Indonesia now mines two-thirds of the world's nickel
Nickel mine production by country, thousand tonnes of nickel content, 2025 estimate vs 2024.
- 1. Indonesia now mines two-thirds of the world's nickel
- 2. Kazakhstan mines more uranium than Canada and Namibia combined
- 3. Argentina mined 60% more lithium in just one year
- 4. The price of lithium fell 86% in three years
- 5. Indonesia climbed from ninth to second among cobalt miners
- 6. DR Congo tripled its copper mining in ten years
- 7. DR Congo passed Chile in refined copper
- 8. Zimbabwe climbed to fourth among the world's lithium miners
- 9. DR Congo mines three-quarters of the world's cobalt
- 10. Guinea overtook Australia as the world's biggest bauxite miner
- 11. Brazil mines 93% of the world's niobium
Indonesia mined about 2,600 of the world's 3,900 thousand tonnes in 2025 (USGS estimate).
Indonesia added more nickel in one year than Australia, Brazil and the US mine combined.
Indonesia now out-mines the No. 2 producer, the Philippines (270k t), almost ten to one.
the numbers & method
| Mine output (k t) | 2024 (k t) | World share (%) | 2024 share (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indonesia | 2,600 | 2,310 | 66.7 | 62.3 |
| Philippines | 270 | 354 | 6.9 | 9.5 |
| Russia | 200 | 205 | 5.1 | 5.5 |
| Canada | 140 | 125 | 3.6 | 3.4 |
| New Caledonia | 140 | 116 | 3.6 | 3.1 |
| China | 120 | 115 | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| Brazil | 70 | 68 | 1.8 | 1.8 |
| Australia | 45 | 98 | 1.2 | 2.6 |
| United States | 10 | 7 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Other countries | 290 | 308 | 7.4 | 8.3 |
Claim types Fact · Estimate
2025 values are USGS estimates; 2024 China value estimated; Canada 2024 revised. Shares derived by progrss from the USGS rounded world totals (3,900 kt in 2025, 3,710 kt in 2024). Prior edition (MCS 2025) shows Indonesia at 2,030 of 3,750 kt in 2023 (~54%). A ~2015 baseline from MCS 2017 could not be retrieved, so the compare year is 2024.
what connects to this
one plate, every morning
The new world, explained in one chart, in your inbox at 7:00, your time. Free.