China, the U.S., or the EU: Who Dominates World Trade in 2024?

Several months ago, we looked at how trade leadership shifted between the United States and the European Union over time. The post got a lot of attention – many map lovers were clearly interested in who really drives global trade.

This time, there’s a new map that adds another layer to the story.

These maps, created by Ehsan Soltani for Visual Capitalist, bring China into the spotlight. It compares global trade dominance in the years 2000 and 2024, showing which of the three major players – the U.S., EU, or China – was the largest trading partner (total imports + exports) for each country.

So what’s changed since 2000?

Dominant Trade Partners: U.S., EU, or China

Country	U.S. (2000)	EU (2000)	China (2000)	Country	U.S. (2024)	EU (2024)	China (2024)
Afghanistan	9	112	25	Afghanistan	34	325	1,586
Albania	29	1,060	14	Albania	270	7,905	1,342
Algeria	3,586	21,028	199	Algeria	3,476	50,184	12,487
Andorra	11	936	0	Andorra	8	2,023	11
Angola	3,781	2,355	1,876	Angola	2,552	10,279	20,890
Anguilla	31	13		Anguilla	74	5	7
Antigua and Barbuda	140	1,363	1	Antigua and Barbuda	598	335	120
Argentina	7,795	10,857	1,540	Argentina	16,263	17,734	16,347
Armenia	79	370	5	Armenia	282	2,603	1,802
Aruba	1,827	259		Aruba	736	285	87
Australia	18,920	22,981	8,453	Australia	51,279	53,361	211,899
Austria	5,818		781	Austria	22,046		12,243
Azerbaijan	231	1,248	6	Azerbaijan	413	19,315	2,467
Bahamas	1,344	1,524	8	Bahamas	7,432	764	1,273
Bahrain	787	1,239	121	Bahrain	2,851	3,816	1,474
Bangladesh	2,657	3,546	918	Bangladesh	10,580	24,014	24,078
Barbados	346	224	3	Barbados	821	201	197
Belarus	135	2,781	114	Belarus	31	8,791	8,401
Belgium	23,855		3,687	Belgium	62,028		39,091
Belize	302	175	4	Belize	672	129	213
Benin	29	592	372	Benin	265	785	1,107
Bermuda	468	2,271		Bermuda	564	276	345
Bhutan	2	13		Bhutan	7	20	69
Bolivia	438	366	17	Bolivia	905	1,161	2,721
Bosnia and Herzegovina	62	2,299	4	Bosnia and Herzegovina	232	16,456	417
Botswana	73	663	11	Botswana	509	984	1,012
Brazil	29,173	32,665	2,845	Brazil	91,983	96,724	188,395
British Indian Ocean Terr.	4	6		British Indian Ocean Territory	6		1
British Virgin Islands	94	484	1	British Virgin Islands	373		218
Brunei	540	411	74	Brunei Darussalam	366	274	2,814
Bulgaria	350		94	Bulgaria	1,980		4,040
Burkina Faso	18	271		Burkina Faso	59	950	742
Burma	488	489	621	Myanmar	734	3,896	16,286
Burundi	10	83	5	Burundi	10	132	113
Cabo Verde	11	239		Cabo Verde	17	891	114
Cambodia	857	440	224	Cambodia	12,983	6,968	17,818
Cameroon	215	2,424	161	Cameroon	442	5,142	4,722
Canada	409,779	36,870	6,909	Canada	762,056	81,809	93,036
Cayman Islands	361	2,090		Cayman Islands	1,336	7,174	77
Central African Republic	5	266	1	Central African Republic	36	113	95
Chad	15	150	1	Chad	141	2,685	1,131
Chile	6,730	8,012	2,122	Chile	34,637	21,748	61,482
China	116,203	92,442		Christmas Island	4		0
Christmas Island	2			Cocos (Keeling) Islands	4		0
Cocos (Keeling) Islands	1			Colombia	36,728	13,948	21,040
Colombia	10,640	4,043	188	Comoros	7	84	97
Comoros	4	32	0	Congo (Brazzaville)	277	3,204	5,714
Congo (Brazzaville)	614	710	342	Congo (Kinshasa)	576	4,056	25,938
Congo (Kinshasa)	225	1,199	19	Cook Islands	8	99	21
Cook Islands	4		0	Costa Rica	21,312	7,788	7,760
Costa Rica	5,999	3,106	75	Côte d'Ivoire	1,611	13,381	5,056
Cote d'Ivoire	479	3,221	230	Croatia	1,995		2,956
Croatia	231	8,081	85	Cuba	591	1,839	915
Cuba	7	1,983	314	Curacao	855	516	88
Cyprus	214		152	Cyprus	242		1,147
Czech Republic	1,806		437	Czech Republic	12,362		23,222
Denmark	4,472		1,334	Denmark	15,848		15,455
Djibouti	17	181	54	Djibouti	185	259	3,059
Dominica	44	60	60	Dominica	61	60	47
Dominican Republic	8,856	1,391	76	Dominican Republic	20,587	4,768	5,184
East Timor	-			East Timor	25	37	267
Ecuador	3,276	1,452	155	Ecuador	16,056	8,193	13,981
Egypt	4,222	10,931	907	Egypt	8,638	35,169	17,387
El Salvador	3,713	852	63	El Salvador	6,868	1,145	1,967
Equatorial Guinea	250	806	323	Equatorial Guinea	223	1,786	1,154
Eritrea	17	95		Eritrea	38	66	604
Estonia	661		67	Estonia	1,439		1,148
Eswatini	120	142	3	Eswatini	69	153	51
Ethiopia	194	641	59	Ethiopia	1,484	2,435	3,555
Falkland Islands(Islas Malvin	3	145		Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	27	380	0
Faroe Islands	33	624		Faroe Islands	251	2,157
Fiji	170	146	15	Fiji	354	116	534
Finland	4,822		3,190	Finland	10,594		8,216
France	50,162		7,667	France	103,424		79,826
French Guiana	19			French Guiana	31
French Polynesia	138	496	4	French Polynesia	186	1,061	147
French Southern and Antarctic	2			French Southern and Antarctic	2	32	0
Gabon	2,260	1,983	342	Gabon	343	2,585	3,642
Gambia	9	121		Gambia	83	304	496
Gaza Strip admin. by Israel	1			Gaza Strip admin. by Israel	1
Georgia	141	562	4	Georgia	1,902	5,429	2,251
Germany	87,961		19,687	Germany	236,049		201,847
Ghana	396	2,257	121	Ghana	2,139	6,914	11,826
Gibraltar	17	1,240		Gibraltar	651	9,065	43
Greece	1,813		627	Greece	4,857		12,862
Greenland	17	531	6	Greenland	81	1,679	383
Grenada	107	41		Grenada	179	79	28
Guadeloupe	96			Guadeloupe	474
Guatemala	4,508	898	143	Guatemala	14,735	3,167	5,037
Guinea	156	793	34	Guinea	145	2,049	11,583
Guinea-Bissau	1	46	5	Guinea-Bissau	4	205	98
Guyana	299	261	14	Guyana	6,690	10,958	1,407
Haiti	874	120	16	Haiti	1,831	167	456
Heard and McDonald Islands	1			Heard and McDonald Islands	0
Honduras	5,674	570	62	Honduras	12,590	2,087	2,033
Hong Kong	26,031	30,128	53,947	Hong Kong	33,859	30,597	310,009
Hungary	3,284		997	Hungary	15,965		16,176
Iceland	516	3,169	32	Iceland	2,058	9,290	443
India	14,354	24,392	2,914	India	129,169	129,813	138,570
Indonesia	12,769	14,807	7,464	Indonesia	38,287	29,459	147,985
Iran	186	12,822	2,486	Iran	97	4,911	13,374
Iraq	6,076	6,844	975	Iraq	9,083	24,126	54,236
Ireland	24,177		714	Ireland	119,824		23,415
Israel	20,710	24,734	1,054	Israel	37,010	46,025	22,732
Italy	36,103		6,880	Italy	108,768		72,484
Jamaica	2,024	871	79	Jamaica	3,006	734	1,090
Japan	211,404	126,549	83,164	Japan	227,949	140,887	308,321
Jordan	390	1,725	253	Jordan	5,396	5,202	5,364
Kazakhstan	553	4,827	1,557	Kazakhstan	3,408	48,628	43,976
Kenya	348	1,643	137	Kenya	1,520	3,635	8,829
Kiribati	6	1	1	Kiribati	5	9	54
North Korea	3	335	488	North Korea	2	11	2,182
South Korea	68,138	40,192	34,500	South Korea	197,091	133,782	328,154
Kuwait	3,568	5,148	616	Kosovo	83	2,756
Kyrgyzstan	25	194	178	Kuwait	4,055	13,800	16,283
Laos	14	169	41	Kyrgyzstan	150	3,073	22,718
Latvia	422		29	Laos	844	630	8,222
Lebanon	432	2,991	169	Latvia	1,177		1,148
Lesotho	141	28	10	Lebanon	799	5,918	2,205
Liberia	89	2,385	161	Lesotho	240	318	153
Libya	18	14,402	77	Liberia	293	1,871	13,163
Liechtenstein	292			Libya	2,033	30,544	4,748
Lithuania	195		39	Liechtenstein	310	2,945
Luxembourg	729		99	Lithuania	3,941		2,195
Macao	1,337	970	805	Luxembourg	1,836		748
Macedonia	221	2,355	7	Macao	384	1,122	4,042
Madagascar	173	898	78	Macedonia	234	14,181	490
Malawi	69	279		Madagascar	787	1,864	1,680
Malaysia	36,506	24,691	8,045	Malawi	68	453	266
Maldives	100	148	1	Malaysia	80,240	50,178	212,009
Mali	42	377	35	Maldives	97	319	619
Malta	817		95	Mali	57	1,243	1,078
Marshall Islands	66	84	2	Malta	581		4,540
Martinique	24			Marshall Islands	148	2,380	5,312
Mauritania	17	673	30	Martinique	202
Mauritius	310	1,911	113	Mauritania	143	2,035	2,439
Mexico	247,275	19,941	1,824	Mauritius	283	1,803	1,103
Micronesia	43	1	2	Mayotte	4
Moldova	133	809	8	Mexico	839,892	89,045	109,273
Monaco	51			Micronesia	53	3	123
Mongolia	134	123	323	Moldova	190	8,190	465
Montserrat	11	5	0	Monaco	210
Morocco	964	12,885	336	Mongolia	424	1,026	18,269
Mozambique	81	350	33	Montenegro	43	2,756	226
Namibia	125	609	12	Montserrat	18	4	1
Nauru	5	5		Morocco	7,174	65,493	9,041
Nepal	265	249	204	Mozambique	366	2,882	5,172
Netherlands	31,507		7,923	Namibia	436	2,145	1,368
Netherlands Antilles	1,393	841	33	Nauru	3		20
New Caledonia	51	766	3	Nepal	241	332	2,198
New Zealand	4,050	4,233	1,054	Netherlands	123,782		109,922
Nicaragua	969	320	43	New Caledonia	63		814
Niger	44	255		New Zealand	10,116	8,489	20,143
Nigeria	11,260	9,594	856	Nicaragua	7,563	705	1,252
Niue	0			Niger	52	538	836
Norfolk Island	2			Nigeria	9,873	32,891	21,905
Norway	7,253	67,687	1,097	Niue	5		19
Oman	457	1,222	3,321	Norfolk Island	0		1
Pakistan	2,629	4,324	1,162	Norway	11,175	173,652	10,172
Palau	32	1		Oman	3,274	5,390	36,734
Panama	1,919	1,903	1,291	Pakistan	7,259	12,972	23,069
Papua New Guinea	57	309	226	Palau	23	52	43
Paraguay	487	419	89	Panama	11,258	5,898	12,830
Peru	3,655	2,602	705	Papua New Guinea	146	1,162	4,606
Philippines	22,734	12,611	3,142	Paraguay	3,515	1,519	2,592
Pitcairn Islands	3	2		Peru	20,587	13,326	43,165
Poland	1,799		960	Philippines	23,475	18,186	71,625
Portugal	2,563		308	Pitcairn	1		0
Qatar	677	1,588	472	Poland	25,673		44,924
Reunion	4			Portugal	9,637		9,266
Romania	706		298	Qatar	5,638	16,067	24,213
Russia	9,751	79,582	8,003	Reunion	56
Rwanda	24	92	6	Romania	5,164		13,445
Samoa	70	6	2	Russia	3,534	73,068	244,574
San Marino	8	200		Rwanda	75	477	670
Sao Tome and Principe	2	43		Samoa	60	6	113
Saudi Arabia	20,599	25,868	3,098	San Marino	105	514
Senegal	86	1,326	53	Sao Tome and Principe	2	104	21
Serbia and Montenegro	32	3,614	68	Saudi Arabia	25,911	75,666	107,429
Seychelles	15	268	2	Senegal	586	4,839	5,827
Sierra Leone	23	290	9	Serbia	1,024	46,473	5,729
Singapore	36,985	30,526	10,821	Seychelles	24	616	84
Slovakia	351		56	Sierra Leone	149	569	1,782
Slovenia	452		70	Singapore	89,236	51,975	111,205
Solomon Islands	6	15	14	Sint Maarten	855	150	65
Somalia	5	41	1	Slovakia	8,740		9,714
South Africa	7,299	24,376	2,051	Slovenia	6,625		6,634
Spain	12,036		2,772	Solomon Islands	14	124	596
Sri Lanka	2,207	3,297	458	Somalia	52	177	972
St Helena	4	29		South Africa	20,475	48,390	52,511
St Kitts and Nevis	95	54		South Sudan	60	59	466
St. Lucia	130	103	2	Spain	45,189		50,002
St Pierre and Miquelon	8	29		Sri Lanka	3,384	4,020	5,367
St Vincent and the Grenadines	47	293		St Lucia	1,051	54	43
Sudan	19	669	890	St Pierre and Miquelon	3	42	0
Suriname	270	276	11	St Vincent and the Grenadines	151	93	34
Svalbard, Jan Mayen Island	0			Sudan	70	656	1,394
Sweden	14,151		3,503	Suriname	474	454	425
Switzerland	20,114	125,766	2,210	Svalbard, Jan Mayen Island	0
Syria	385	5,067	174	Sweden	26,183		18,892
Taiwan	64,909			Switzerland	88,387	356,780	62,878
Tajikistan	21	130	17	Syria	13	397	390
Tanzania	77	705	91	Taiwan	158,601	77,240	293,055
Thailand	23,003	18,556	6,624	Tajikistan	61	612	3,863
Togo	17	359	80	Tanzania	778	2,105	8,883
Tokelau	16			Thailand	81,047	45,341	133,997
Tonga	12	5		Togo	374	1,316	3,499
Trinidad and Tobago	3,329	853	27	Tokelau	0	6
Tunisia	383	11,900	99	Tonga	23	2	70
Turkey	6,762	46,573	1,205	Trinidad and Tobago	6,266	3,174	1,167
Turkmenistan	112	422	16	Tunisia	1,627	27,163	2,882
Turks and Caicos Islands	95	10	0	Turkey	32,039	228,001	42,890
Tuvalu	-	2		Turkmenistan	97	1,192	10,648
Uganda	57	449	15	Turks and Caicos Islands	725	53	20
Ukraine	1,063	9,436	591	Tuvalu	1		19
United Arab Emirates	3,256	13,476	2,495	Uganda	239	1,962	1,463
United States		408,859	74,531	Ukraine	2,870	72,658	8,013
United Kingdom	84,916		9,903	United Arab Emirates	34,444	60,144	101,785
Uruguay	850	1,207	344	United Kingdom	148,026	546,174	98,354
Uzbekistan	199	1,137	51	Uruguay	2,878	4,148	6,590
Vanuatu	2	14	2	Uzbekistan	423	5,194	13,785
Venezuela	24,173	5,619	351	Vanuatu	21	16	206
Vietnam	1,189	5,134	2,466	Vatican City	1
Yemen	445	663	912	Venezuela	10,220	3,192	6,407
Wallis and Futuna	-	8		Vietnam	149,659	72,545	260,741
West Bank admin. by Israel	14	73	6	Wallis and Futuna Islands	0	24	2
Western Sahara	-			Yemen	143	646	2,494
Zambia	37	284	102	Palestine	10	373	155
Zimbabwe	165	975	135	Zambia	283	793	6,693

Back then, the United States led in much of the Americas and across the Asia-Pacific. The EU had wide influence across Europe, parts of Africa, and some of South America. China? It was still mostly behind the scenes – only the main trading partner for a few countries, mainly nearby Asian nations.

Fast forward to 2024, and the global trade landscape has shifted dramatically. China has become the leading trade partner for much of Asia, Africa, and South America. Its total trade jumped from $474 billion in 2000 to $6.2 trillion in 2024, overtaking both the U.S. and the EU. It’s not just growth—it’s a whole new shape to the global trade landscape.

The U.S. remains strong in North America and some parts of Latin America. The EU still leads across Europe and parts of North Africa. But, compared to twenty years ago, both have lost considerable ground to China – especially in countries throughout the Global South.

This change goes beyond simple numbers. It highlights evolving economic ties, shifting political connections, and new areas of strategic influence. These world maps clearly show how global trade patterns have moved – and who is increasingly at the center of it all.