Indonesia climbed from ninth to second among cobalt miners
Rank among cobalt miners by mine production, 2021 and 2025, for 2021's ten biggest producers.
- 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 44 kt of cobalt in 2025, up from 2.1 kt in 2021; only DR Congo (187 kt) mines more.
Indonesia's share of world cobalt output in 2025, up from 1.5% in 2021, as Russia, Australia and Canada slipped.
Battery makers now have a second big cobalt source beside DR Congo, which still mines over two-thirds.
the numbers & method
| 2021 (kt) | 2025 (kt) | |
|---|---|---|
| DR Congo | 93.1 | 187.5 |
| Indonesia | 2.1 | 44.0 |
| Russia | 8.0 | 7.7 |
| Philippines | 4.3 | 4.4 |
| Madagascar | 2.0 | 3.9 |
| Australia | 5.3 | 3.7 |
| Canada | 4.4 | 3.5 |
| Cuba | 4.0 | 3.1 |
| Papua New Guinea | 3.0 | 2.8 |
| China | 2.2 | 2.0 |
Claim types Fact · Interpretation
Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy, narrow-format data file (variable cobalt_kt, thousand tonnes of cobalt content, mine production), downloaded from the Energy Institute and read from the progrss data vault inbox. Thousand tonnes, 2021 vs 2025: DR Congo 93.14 to 187.47; Indonesia 2.10 to 44.00; Russia 8.00 to 7.70; Philippines 4.33 to 4.40; Madagascar 2.00 to 3.90; Australia 5.30 to 3.70; Canada 4.36 to 3.50; Cuba 3.97 to 3.07; Papua New Guinea 2.95 to 2.80; China 2.20 to 2.00. Indonesia 2022 9.60, 2023 19.00, 2024 35.00; it passed Russia (9.20) in 2022 and has been second since. World total 136.68 kt (2021) and 273.64 kt (2025); shares, multiples and ranks are progrss calculations. Ranks are among the individual countries the EI lists ('Rest of World' excluded); the ten rows shown are the ten biggest producers of 2021, so their positions match the all-country ranks in both years. The EI's Indonesia series before 2021 is flat at 0.35 kt for 2015–20 and drops from 4.7 kt (2013) to 0.33 kt (2014), so it is not charted; Indonesia's output comes as a by-product of nickel processing. The 2021 gaps around Indonesia are thin (China 2.20, Indonesia 2.10, Madagascar 2.00 kt), so 'ninth' is on EI figures; 2025 output fell from 2024 for DR Congo (200.78 kt) and the world (278.47 kt). Takeaway 3's reading is an interpretation. Licence: Energy Institute Statistical Review terms.
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