Mining spans bulk fuels, industrial minerals, metals and highly concentrated technology inputs. The statistics below distinguish observed production from IEA estimates and forecasts, while World Mining Data generally reports recoverable valuable-element or compound content rather than crude run-of-mine ore or concentrate.
Key Mining Industry Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- World mineral production excluding bauxite was 18,800,812,140 metric tons in 2022, according to World Mining Data.
- Mineral-fuel output was 16,624,278,282 metric tons worldwide in 2023, using the report’s mineral-fuel categories.
- Iron and ferro-alloy output was 1,610,254,408 metric tons worldwide in 2023, under World Mining Data’s recoverable-content convention.
- Lithium demand rose nearly 30% globally in 2024, according to the IEA’s energy-mineral market estimate.
- The energy sector accounted for 85% of demand growth for lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite from 2022 to 2024, an IEA sector-attribution estimate.
- The average top-three mining-country share for key energy minerals reached 77% in 2024, up from 73% in 2020.
- Lithium prices fell more than 80% from 2023 levels, after surging eightfold during 2021–2022.
- Critical-mineral development spending grew 5% globally in 2024, down from 14% growth in 2023.
- About $500 billion of new mining capital investment is needed through 2040 in the IEA STEPS, excluding sustained capital expenditure.
- Announced projects imply a 30% copper mined-supply shortfall versus STEPS demand in 2035, based on the announced project pipeline.
- Announced projects imply a 40% lithium mined-supply shortfall versus STEPS demand in 2035, under the same pipeline-based forecast.
- Recycling could reduce global energy-transition-mineral mining investment needs by around 30% through 2040, according to an IEA scenario estimate.
- Recycled nickel, cobalt and lithium have average greenhouse-gas emissions 80% lower than mined primary materials, under the IEA’s methodology and boundaries.
- World antimony production was 103,750 metric tons in 2023, compared with 134,659 metric tons in 2019.
- World gallium production was 713 metric tons in 2023, including 707 metric tons attributed to the BRICS group.
- Developing countries produced 56,965,107 metric tons of primary aluminum in 2023, under World Mining Data’s development-status classification.
Contents
- Global production scale and mining industry trends
- Mining data by mineral group and commodity
- Critical mineral demand, concentration and prices
- Mining investment and projected supply gaps
- Battery minerals and technology-metal production
- Mining output by development, income and stability group
Global Production Scale and Mining Industry Trends
World Mining Data reports a long-run aggregate for world mineral production excluding bauxite. These are observed totals, but the series is not a crude-ore measure and should not be read as tonnage of all material moved at mine sites.
| Year | World production excluding bauxite |
|---|---|
| 1989 | 10,447,552,634 metric tons |
| 2000 | 17,242,696,730 metric tons |
| 2003 | 19,190,581,157 metric tons |
| 2010 | 15,837,885,094 metric tons |
| 2018 | 17,837,030,980 metric tons |
| 2019 | 18,034,481,030 metric tons |
| 2020 | 17,242,696,730 metric tons |
| 2021 | 17,900,302,542 metric tons |
| 2022 | 18,800,812,140 metric tons |
Source: World Mining Data 2025. The aggregate excludes bauxite, and World Mining Data notes that data received after 28 February 2025 moves to the next edition.
The series shows why period and definition matter. It reached 19,190,581,157 metric tons in 2003, stood at 15,837,885,094 metric tons in 2010, and then rose to 18,800,812,140 metric tons in 2022; those observations are not a single commodity trend.
Mining Industry Data by Mineral Group and Commodity
The 2023 World Mining Data profile separates very different physical scales. Mineral fuels dominate the aggregate, while precious metals are reported in much smaller quantities and sometimes use kilograms rather than metric tons.
| Mineral group or commodity | 2023 world output | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Mineral fuels | 16,624,278,282 | metric tons |
| Industrial minerals | 844,281,165 | metric tons |
| Iron and ferro-alloys | 1,610,254,408 | metric tons |
| Non-ferrous metals | 111,736,977 | metric tons |
| Precious metals | 30,325 | metric tons |
| Primary aluminum | 70,659,931 | metric tons |
Source: World Mining Data 2025. Group totals and primary aluminum use source-specific commodity and recoverable-content definitions.
Silver illustrates the importance of retaining the reported unit. World output was 28,132,515 kilograms in 2019, 26,517,027 kilograms in 2020, 26,654,852 kilograms in 2021, 26,642,839 kilograms in 2022 and 26,643,145 kilograms in 2023.
The source also records a wide range of commodity-specific production levels. Primary aluminum is measured in tens of millions of metric tons, while silver is measured in tens of millions of kilograms and precious-metal group output is reported as 30,325 metric tons in 2023.
Critical Mineral Demand, Concentration and Price Trends
The IEA’s 2025 outlook describes strong but uneven demand growth in 2024. Lithium demand increased nearly 30%, while nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare-earth demand each increased in the IEA’s 6–8% range; the rare-earth figure refers to magnet rare earths.
- The energy sector represented 85% of total demand growth for lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite over 2022–2024, an attribution of growth rather than a share of total mineral demand.
- The average share of mined supply held by the top three producing countries for key energy minerals rose from 73% in 2020 to 77% in 2024.
- Graphite, cobalt and nickel prices each dropped 10–20% in 2024 in the IEA’s selected battery-metal comparison.
- Lithium prices fell more than 80% from 2023 levels after an eightfold surge during 2021–2022.
Source: Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 – Executive summary. The IEA’s supply-growth figures use refined output, and its concentration measure is an average across key energy minerals rather than a single commodity.
These figures combine demand, mined-supply concentration and price observations, so they answer different questions. A market can experience rapid demand growth while prices decline if supply expands faster than near-term demand or if inventories and processing conditions change; the supplied figures do not quantify those mechanisms.
Mining Investment and Projected Supply Gaps
Investment growth slowed in 2024 even as the longer-term transition-mineral requirement remained large. Critical-mineral development spending grew 5% in 2024, compared with 14% growth in 2023, while real growth after cost-inflation adjustment was 2% in 2024.
| IEA scenario or test | Statistic | Period |
|---|---|---|
| STEPS | About $500 billion new mining capital investment needed | Through 2040 |
| APS | About $600 billion new mining capital investment needed | Through 2040 |
| Announced-project base case | 30% copper mined-supply shortfall versus demand | 2035 |
| Announced-project base case | 40% lithium mined-supply shortfall versus demand | 2035 |
Source: Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 – Overview of outlook for key minerals. STEPS means Stated Policies Scenario and APS means Announced Pledges Scenario; the capital figures exclude sustained capital expenditure and are forecasts, not observed outcomes.
The IEA reports APS mining-capital requirements as about 15% higher than STEPS requirements. It also estimates that recycling could reduce mining investment needs by around 30% through 2040, while recycled nickel, cobalt and lithium have average greenhouse-gas emissions 80% lower than mined primary materials under the source’s methodology.
A separate N-1 stress test removes the largest supplier and that supplier’s demand. In 2035, graphite and rare-earth supply would cover only 35–40% of remaining N-1 demand, nickel would cover less than 55%, and lithium would cover 65%; the test excludes Indonesia for nickel and China for lithium.
Battery Minerals and Technology-Metal Mining Statistics
Technology-metal production is measured in small absolute tonnages but can be strategically concentrated. World Mining Data records the following observed commodity series:
| Commodity | Earlier observation | 2023 observation |
|---|---|---|
| Antimony | 134,659 metric tons in 2019; 83,299 in 2022 | 103,750 metric tons |
| Arsenic | 55,243 metric tons in 2019 | 64,402 metric tons |
| Gallium | 374 metric tons in 2019 | 713 metric tons |
| Germanium | 95 metric tons in 2019 | 163 metric tons |
| Indium | 918 metric tons in 2019 | 978 metric tons |
Source: World Mining Data 2025. These are commodity series with source-defined production and estimation practices.
The 2023 gallium and germanium figures also show the role of grouping definitions. The BRICS group accounted for 707 of 713 metric tons of gallium production and produced 159 of 163 metric tons of germanium; BRICS is an economic grouping, not a single-country measure.
Antimony provides a different pattern from the technology metals that rose between 2019 and 2023. World production fell from 134,659 metric tons in 2019 to 83,299 metric tons in 2022, then reached 103,750 metric tons in 2023.
Mining Output by Development, Income and Political-Stability Group
World Mining Data classifies output by development status, income and political stability. These classifications describe grouped production, not necessarily mine ownership, refining location or the destination of material.
| Classification | 2023 primary aluminum | 2023 silver |
|---|---|---|
| Developing countries | 56,965,107 metric tons | — |
| High-income countries | 18,919,211 metric tons | — |
| Unstable countries | 55,728,890 metric tons | 20,645,946 kilograms |
| OECD countries | 8,949,659 metric tons | 12,990,937 kilograms |
Source: World Mining Data 2025. A dash means the supplied statistic did not provide a corresponding value, not zero production; political-stability, income and development classifications are source-defined.
Other 2023 observations reinforce the need to keep the commodity and grouping visible. Developing countries produced 640,640 metric tons of asbestos, while total recorded world asbestos production was 1,238,640 metric tons.
The OECD figures likewise should not be interpreted as a direct measure of mine ownership. The source records 8,949,659 metric tons of primary aluminum and 12,990,937 kilograms of silver for OECD countries in 2023, using the source’s grouping and commodity tables.
The Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025 is another official reference for salient U.S. statistics and world production for more than 90 nonfuel commodities. Commodity-level definitions and estimation practices vary by chapter, so comparisons should retain each publication’s stated scope.