Which countries are most dependent on the Strait of Ormuz? List of countries and real risks to world trade

The Ormuz Strait remains the key bottleneck of world energy trade. Although traffic has not been fully halted, selective transit and a sharp reduction in transitions are already affecting the oil, LNG and maritime transport markets. Asia's economies remain the most vulnerable, which receive most of the raw materials flowing through this route.

A few weeks ago, more than a hundred ships passed through the Strait a day. Today, regular traffic has been reduced to a minimum and shipowners operate under high operational risks.

Although some transport continues to reach its destination, more and more ships are changing routes. In practice, this means that even a partial restriction of traffic through the Strait of Ormuz is sufficient to disrupt the energy market andmaritime transport.

The narrow throat of the world economy

The Ormuz Strait remains one of the most important points of the global energy system. This narrow route is followed by a volume corresponding to around 20% of global oil and liquid fuels consumption, as well as an important part of global LNG trade.

In the narrowest place, the strait is only about 30 miles wide, making it a classic "narrow throat"maritime transport. Every disruption in this region immediately affects fuel markets and logistics worldwide.

The importance of this trail goes far beyond the Middle East region. It includes not only oil transport, but also LNG and many other raw materials needed for industry and energy.

Countries most dependent on supply by Ormuz

The greatest dependence on transports passing through the Ormuz Strait is on Asian countries whose economies are heavily based on the import of energy resources.

The most dependent on oil transport through Ormuz are:

1. China — 37.7%
China remains the largest recipient of oil transported by the Strait. More than a third of the raw material flowing through this route goes to Chinese refineries. In the event of disruption, the impact would immediately be felt by industry and global supply chains.

2. India — 14.7%
India is the second largest oil importer dependent on this route. This country has limited resources of its own and therefore stability of supply from the Gulf is crucial for its economy.

3. South Korea — 12.0%
One of the world's most industrialised economies is energy import. Stable oil supplies are essential to the functioning of the chemical, shipbuilding and electronic industries.

4. Japan — 10.9%
Japan imports almost all of the oil consumed. After reducing nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster, dependence on supplies from the Middle East has increased.

5. The European Union — 3.8%
Europe is less dependent on this route than Asia, but still remains the recipient of oil and LNG supplies from the Gulf region, although their supply is currently being disrupted.

LNG — less visible but equally dangerous problem

Although the most attention is given to oil, the transport of liquefied natural gas is also of great importance, as we wrote onour portal.

The analysis shows that Qatar's export contracts cover at least 50,05 million tonnes of LNG per year and that in the event of a blockage of up to 840 LNG loadings may be disrupted.

Qatar and the United Arab Emirates together account for around 20% of global LNG supply, which means that long-term restrictions on transport through the Strait can cause serious gas shortages in many regions of the world.

Asian countries can find themselves in a particularly difficult situation, which a large part of LNG supplies come from this region.

Attempts to bypass the Strait

The Gulf States are attempting to reduce the impact of interference by directing some of the transports by alternative land routes.

Saudi Arabia increases the use of the East-West pipeline, which leads to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. Flows rose from 1.7 million barrels a day in 2025 to 5.9 million barrels a day, and could eventually reach 7 million barrels a day.

Similar actions are carried out by the United Arab Emirates. The Habshan–Fujairah pipeline reached 1.8 million barrels a day, corresponding to its maximum capacity.

Despite this, alternative routes cannot replace the full volumetransportpassing through the Ormuz Strait.

Changing routes and increasing risks

In recent weeks, ships have increasingly changed their standard routes. Data indicate that part of the craft flows closer to the Iranian coasts, which may be due to the need to comply with designated corridors or to avoid potential risks.

Since the beginning of the conflict, there have been at least 15 incidents of tanker attacks and the threat of marine mines remains one of the most serious risk factors for shipping.

Route changes and increasing operational risk lead to an increasetransport costsand extending delivery times.

Even partial restrictions have global effects

The dependence of many countries on transports passing through the Strait of Ormuz makes even partial traffic restrictions immediately translate into increases in energy prices and disruptions in global supply chains.

It is enough to reduce the number of ships and increase the risks to shipping so that the effects of the crisis can be felt by the world's largest and most industrialised countries, which shape the global economy to a large extent.