TOP 10 Countries by Critical Minerals Output (2025)
Critical minerals output in 2025 is even more concentrated than many industrial rankings suggest
Lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earths sit at the core of batteries, electric drivetrains, grid storage and permanent magnets. Looking only at one mineral at a time understates how much strategic weight is concentrated in a narrow set of mining jurisdictions. This 2025 snapshot uses the latest USGS mine-production data and a transparent composite index to show which countries matter most across the four minerals together.
The score used here does not add tonnes of lithium to tonnes of nickel. Instead, each country receives points equal to its share of world mine output in each mineral, and those shares are summed into one basket. A country with 20% of lithium, 5% of nickel and 10% of rare earths gets 35 composite points.
Top 10 countries by critical minerals output, 2025 snapshot
China finishes first because it combines overwhelming rare-earth mine production with meaningful lithium and nickel output. It is not just a single-mineral leader: it is the only country that scores materially across all four tracked minerals, which makes its mining footprint broader than a pure nickel or cobalt specialist.
Indonesia is now the dominant nickel mining power by a huge margin, and its HPAL-linked cobalt stream keeps expanding. Even without meaningful lithium or rare-earth mine output in this basket, its nickel scale alone pushes it close to China in the overall ranking.
The DRC ranks third on cobalt dominance alone. That concentration is exactly why supply-chain risk remains high for battery makers: one country still controls the overwhelming majority of mined cobalt even as cathode chemistry shifts reduce cobalt intensity per battery pack.
Australia is the strongest diversified mining player in the ranking after China. It leads lithium mine output, remains a significant rare-earth producer and still contributes nickel and cobalt, giving it a more balanced resource profile than most of the list.
Chile stays near the top because high-grade salar production still gives it one of the largest positions in global lithium supply. Its score is narrower than Australia’s, but in the battery economy lithium alone remains large enough to secure a top-five place.
The United States is powered mainly by rare-earth mine output in this ranking. Because U.S. lithium production is withheld by USGS for confidentiality, the published score almost certainly understates its full basket weight.
Zimbabwe has moved from being a secondary name in the lithium story to a visible contributor in global mine supply. Its ranking reflects how new African lithium mines are starting to alter what used to be an Australia–Chile–China dominated triangle.
Russia remains relevant because of its nickel base and smaller cobalt and rare-earth contributions. The resource position is still significant even though sanctions, trade restrictions and political risk complicate how markets price that supply.
The Philippines enters the top 10 on the back of large nickel mine output, supported by modest cobalt production. It matters especially as buyers look for alternatives to Indonesia, even though the scale gap between the two remains enormous.
Argentina rounds out the top 10 as the fastest-rising South American lithium producer in the basket. New brine capacity is giving it more weight in the global battery-material system, even before large-scale downstream refining is built out locally.
Table 1. Top 10 countries by composite critical-minerals output score
| Rank | Country | Composite points | Primary mineral strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 94.3 | Rare earths, plus lithium and nickel |
| 2 | Indonesia | 80.9 | Nickel and cobalt |
| 3 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 74.2 | Cobalt |
| 4 | Australia | 41.5 | Lithium with multi-mineral depth |
| 5 | Chile | 19.3 | Lithium |
| 6 | United States | 13.4 | Rare earths |
| 7 | Zimbabwe | 9.7 | Lithium |
| 8 | Russia | 8.3 | Nickel |
| 9 | Philippines | 8.1 | Nickel |
| 10 | Argentina | 7.9 | Lithium |
Chart 1. Top 20 countries by composite critical-minerals output score
- China — 94.3
- Indonesia — 80.9
- DR Congo — 74.2
- Australia — 41.5
- Chile — 19.3
- United States — 13.4
- Zimbabwe — 9.7
- Russia — 8.3
- Philippines — 8.1
- Argentina — 7.9
Methodology
This ranking uses the latest available mine-production estimates for 2025 from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 for lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earths. Because the four minerals are reported in different physical units and serve different points in the clean-energy value chain, the article does not add tonnes directly across commodities.
Instead, each country receives a score equal to its share of world mine output in each mineral, summed across the four categories. Rare earths are treated in REO-equivalent terms, lithium in lithium content, nickel in nickel content and cobalt in cobalt content. The result is a comparative mining basket, not a price-weighted market-size index.
There are three main limitations. First, this is a mining-stage ranking only; it does not measure refining, precursor chemicals, cathodes, magnets or battery cells, where concentration is often even stronger. Second, the basket excludes copper, graphite, manganese and platinum-group metals, which also matter for the energy transition. Third, USGS withholds U.S. lithium production, so the U.S. composite score is conservative rather than fully observed.
Insights and what this means for the reader
The first takeaway is concentration. China, Indonesia and the DRC sit on very different mineral pillars, but together they dominate the strategic conversation because each anchors a mineral that is hard to replace quickly at scale.
The second takeaway is that diversification is uneven. Australia is the clearest broad-based mining winner after China, while countries such as Chile, Argentina and Zimbabwe are still much more lithium-specific. That matters because single-mineral exposure creates more earnings volatility for producers and more procurement risk for buyers.
The third takeaway is that mining power is not the same as full supply-chain control. For readers watching EV prices, industrial policy, mining equities or geopolitical risk, the mining map tells you where ore comes from, but not who captures the highest-value processing margins. In practice, downstream refining and conversion still shape pricing power just as much as the mine itself.
FAQ
Because this ranking combines four minerals, not one. Indonesia dominates nickel, but China adds a huge rare-earth position plus meaningful lithium and nickel output, which lifts its total basket score above every other country.
Its cobalt position is so large that one mineral is enough to place it near the very top. That is exactly why cobalt supply risk remains a strategic concern even as battery chemistry evolves.
This article ranks mine production, not reserves. A country may have very large geological resources but still rank low if mines are not yet built, permitted or ramped up.
Not fully. Mining is only the first stage. Refining, chemical conversion, precursor manufacturing and magnet processing are separate bottlenecks, and those steps are often even more geographically concentrated.
Because the basket includes four minerals. They remain major lithium producers, but countries with strong positions in multiple minerals can outrank a lithium specialist when the full clean-energy basket is considered.
Yes. Critical-minerals rankings can move quickly when new mines ramp up, governments change export rules, prices collapse or projects are delayed. Lithium is especially dynamic right now because new capacity has expanded faster than many markets expected.
