Italy suffers most in EU from Hormuz shipping halt

Italy has incurred the greatest economic losses among European Union countries due to disruptions in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, according to an analysis by the Vienna Institute for Supply Chain Analytics and Delft University, published by Spiegel.

The study notes that Italy imports around $9.8 billion worth of goods annually from the Persian Gulf, including $4.4 billion in liquefied gas from Qatar and $3.2 billion in propane. Belgium has also been heavily affected, with Qatari LNG worth $5.8 billion entering through the port of Zeebrugge and significant diamond trade from the UAE passing through Antwerp.

The United Kingdom, which imports $12.9 billion worth of goods from the Persian Gulf annually, is also among the most affected European countries. In contrast, Germany and France have felt the impact to a lesser extent due to more diversified economies.

Co-author Stefan Turner emphasised that the duration of Iran’s blockade will directly determine the scale of economic losses: if the restrictions last more than four weeks, delays in global supply chains could intensify significantly.

By Khagan Isayev