Bituminous Coal Imports by Country

Bituminous Coal Imports by country measures the amount of bituminous coal imported in each country, measured in million metric tons (Mmt) per year. Bituminous coal is a dense, black coal (45-86% carbon) with high energy content. The EIA describes it as the workhorse coal for electricity generation, industrial processes and coke production. The statistics are based on the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) International Energy Statistics. The table covers 134 countries with a reported 2024 value and includes data from 2019 to 2024. The world total stood at 695.9 Mmt in 2024, up from 640.1 Mmt in 2023.

The map highlights where bituminous coal imports are most concentrated in 2024; the table below holds the full 2019-2024 series. This is not just a ranking — the paragraphs below explain what the numbers reveal that the table alone does not.

Bituminous Coal Imports by Country

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#	Country	2024 (Mmt)
1	China CN	175.1
2	Japan JP	119.94
3	South Korea KR	83.84
4	India IN	62.94
5	Taiwan TW	40.84
6	Türkiye TR	34.25
7	Thailand TH	19.47
8	Vietnam VN	18.72
9	Russia RU	17.9
10	Germany DE	13.21
11	Morocco MA	9.32
12	Mexico MX	8.7
13	Brazil BR	7.81
14	Netherlands NL	7.24
15	Pakistan PK	6.76
16	Poland PL	5.12
17	Chile CL	5.07
18	Hong Kong HK	4.77
19	Israel IL	4.75
20	France FR	4.43
21	Egypt EG	4.28
22	Spain ES	3.56
23	Dominican Republic DO	2.91
24	United Arab Emirates AE	2.48
25	Malaysia MY	2.23
26	Canada CA	1.8
27	Belarus BY	1.79
28	Kenya KE	1.77
29	Ukraine UA	1.74
30	Italy IT	1.72
31	United Kingdom GB	1.56
32	Philippines PH	1.51
33	Guatemala GT	1.46
34	Belgium BE	1.18
35	Indonesia ID	1.11
36	Czech Republic CZ	0.95
37	South Africa ZA	0.9
38	Sri Lanka LK	0.83
39	Sweden SE	0.76
40	Mauritius MU	0.74
41	Panama PA	0.74
42	Norway NO	0.66
43	Austria AT	0.61
44	Kyrgyzstan KG	0.55
45	Finland FI	0.54
46	Singapore SG	0.49
47	Madagascar MG	0.47
48	Ethiopia ET	0.45
49	Denmark DK	0.43
50	Uzbekistan UZ	0.41
51	Yemen YE	0.38
52	Slovakia SK	0.33
53	New Caledonia NC	0.33
54	Peru PE	0.31
55	Croatia HR	0.25
56	Bulgaria BG	0.23
57	DR Congo CD	0.22
58	Zambia ZM	0.22
59	Iran IR	0.21
60	Nepal NP	0.19
61	Lebanon LB	0.18
62	Ireland IE	0.18
63	Benin BJ	0.17
64	Serbia RS	0.17
65	Argentina AR	0.16
66	Lithuania LT	0.13
67	Eswatini SZ	0.12
68	Romania RO	0.12
69	Georgia GE	0.11
70	United States US	0.11
71	Kuwait KW	0.1
72	Tajikistan TJ	0.09
73	Bosnia and Herzegovina BA	0.09
74	Togo TG	0.08
75	New Zealand NZ	0.07
76	Kazakhstan KZ	0.07
77	Senegal SN	0.07
78	Myanmar MM	0.06
79	Hungary HU	0.06
80	Greece GR	0.04
81	Australia AU	0.04
82	Jamaica JM	0.04
83	Namibia NA	0.03
84	Honduras HN	0.03
85	Latvia LV	0.03
86	Ghana GH	0.03
87	Luxembourg LU	0.02
88	North Macedonia MK	0.02
89	Azerbaijan AZ	0.02
90	Switzerland CH	0.01
91	Kosovo XK	0.01
92	Syria SY	0.01
93	Slovenia SI	0.01
94	Uruguay UY	0.01
95	Armenia AM	0.01
96	Papua New Guinea PG	0.01
97	Estonia EE	0
98	Bangladesh BD	0
99	Malawi MW	0
100	Moldova MD	0
101	Bhutan BT	0
102	Lesotho LS	0
103	Puerto Rico PR	0
104	Costa Rica CR	0
105	Portugal PT	0
106	Zimbabwe ZW	0
107	Afghanistan AF	0
108	Albania AL	0
109	Algeria DZ	0
110	Aruba AW	0
111	Barbados BB	0
112	Belize BZ	0
113	Bermuda BM	0
114	Botswana BW	0
115	British Virgin Islands VG	0
116	Burundi BI	0
117	Colombia CO	0
118	Cook Islands CK	0
119	Cyprus CY	0
120	Ecuador EC	0
121	Faroe Islands FO	0
122	Fiji FJ	0
123	Greenland GL	0
124	Grenada GD	0
125	Mongolia MN	0
126	Mozambique MZ	0
127	Nigeria NG	0
128	Oman OM	0
129	Paraguay PY	0
130	Saudi Arabia SA	0
131	Seychelles SC	0
132	Timor-Leste TL	0
133	Trinidad and Tobago TT	0
134	Venezuela VE	0

Analysis: China alone accounted for about 25 percent of the world total in 2024, and China and Japan together for about 42 percent. The top three accounted for about 54 percent, the top five for about 69 percent, and the top ten for about 84 percent. China's bituminous coal was about 1.5 times that of Japan, the second-largest importer — a gap that explains much of the global structure.

Who Leads Bituminous Coal Imports?

Data: China (175.1 Mmt) was the largest importer in 2024, ahead of Japan (119.9 Mmt). The next largest were South Korea (83.841 Mmt), India (62.939 Mmt), Taiwan (40.835 Mmt), Türkiye (34.245 Mmt), Thailand (19.47 Mmt). Analysis: The top five alone — China, Japan, South Korea, India, Taiwan — already make up about 69 percent of world total, while the remaining 129 countries together account for less than 31 percent. Context: This concentration means that shifts in just a few countries drive the world total.

Where Bituminous Coal Is Concentrated

Analysis: The top ten held about 84 percent of the world total in 2024, leaving less than 16 percent for the other 124 countries. In Asia, China dominates; in Europe, Germany and the Netherlands are among the larger importers; in North America, Mexico is the largest importer in the dataset. Context: Bituminous coal is a dense, black coal (45-86% carbon) with high energy content. The EIA describes it as the workhorse coal for electricity generation, industrial processes and coke production.

What Changed Most Recently? (2023-2024)

Analysis: China saw the largest increase, rising from 94.181 to 175.1 Mmt (up 80.916 Mmt, about 85.9 percent). Vietnam (+6.437 Mmt) and India (+4.213 Mmt) also rose. The sharpest decline was Italy (9.248 to 1.722 Mmt, down 7.526 Mmt). Overall the world total rose by 55.8 Mmt (+8.7 percent) to 695.9 Mmt. Context: Year-to-year moves like these show whether growth is broad-based or driven by a single country.

How Has Bituminous Coal Evolved Since 2019?

Analysis: The world total moved from 677.3 Mmt in 2019 to 695.9 Mmt in 2024, with a low of 611.7 Mmt. For perspective, China went from 79.713 to 175.1 Mmt, while Japan went from 128.9 to 119.9 Mmt. Context: Comparing 2019-2024 reveals whether leaders are extending their lead or losing share — here, the top-ranked country extended its lead while others grew.

Bituminous Coal in Context

Context: Bituminous coal is a dense, black coal (45-86% carbon) with high energy content. The EIA describes it as the workhorse coal for electricity generation, industrial processes and coke production. Unlike the table which shows “how much,” this section explains “why it matters”: concentration at this level means supply, trade and energy security are tied to a handful of economies. The EIA reports bituminous coal separately from other coal types precisely because its uses and markets differ.

Bituminous Coal Imports by Country

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#	Country	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
1	China	79.71	87.28	82.38	70.42	94.18	175.1
2	Japan	128.95	120.36	125.59	133.86	119.62	119.94
3	South Korea	97.72	80.55	81.18	79.75	90.7	83.84
4	India	61.15	60.26	57.81	40.34	58.73	62.94
5	Taiwan	48.07	44.7	49	44.83	41.76	40.84
6	Türkiye	31.36	33.94	30.38	30.51	34.91	34.25
7	Thailand	8.15	8.2	8.66	9.83	18.66	19.47
8	Vietnam	18.88	18.8	15.74	15.54	12.28	18.72
9	Russia	17.75	18.78	18.8	17.36	19.07	17.9
10	Germany	19.28	11.5	17.31	21.86	13.03	13.21
11	Morocco	7.94	7.91	9.95	10.76	10.16	9.32
12	Mexico	7.48	5.04	5.19	8.21	7.34	8.7
13	Brazil	10.5	8.56	11.31	7.71	6.17	7.81
14	Netherlands	12.98	6.66	11	7.68	6.39	7.24
15	Pakistan	13.34	14.27	16.23	18.46	13.03	6.76
16	Poland	10.27	9.06	7.72	5.78	4.83	5.12
17	Chile	9.87	10.02	11.3	7.36	7.07	5.07
18	Hong Kong	10.04	5.49	6.53	5.68	5.88	4.77
19	Israel	5.9	5.57	6.43	6.56	4.89	4.75
20	France	4.43	3.23	4.13	4.79	5.84	4.43
21	Egypt	4.36	1.94	2.85	2.38	2.88	4.28
22	Spain	3.59	1.19	2.77	6.7	6.39	3.56
23	Dominican Republic	1.95	2.15	2.1	2.19	2.35	2.91
24	United Arab Emirates	0.23	0.18	0.17	0.5	2.19	2.48
25	Malaysia	0.16	0.14	0.19	2.23	3.19	2.23
26	Canada	2.9	1.07	1.83	1.8	2.1	1.8
27	Belarus	0.8	0.9	0.86	1.89	1.62	1.79
28	Kenya	0.59	0.84	0.95	1.17	1.45	1.77
29	Ukraine	4.7	2.94	3.72	0.93	0.16	1.74
30	Italy	7.2	5.54	6.13	9	9.25	1.72
31	United Kingdom	3.95	2.4	2.42	4.52	3.46	1.56
32	Philippines	5.95	4.41	4.06	3.19	3	1.51
33	Guatemala	2.25	2.25	2.24	1.24	0.81	1.46
34	Belgium	1.64	1	1.14	1.31	1.41	1.18
35	Indonesia	0.33	0.53	0.8	0.53	0.82	1.11
36	Czech Republic	1.38	1.42	2.2	1.57	1.61	0.95
37	South Africa	2.1	0.47	1.17	0.65	0.97	0.9
38	Sri Lanka	2.15	2.49	1.98	1.97	2.15	0.83
39	Sweden	2.17	1.51	0.78	0.67	0.56	0.76
40	Mauritius	1.17	1.19	0.76	0.58	0.61	0.74
41	Panama	0.81	1.15	0.97	0.84	0.86	0.74
42	Norway	0.79	0.85	0.88	0.81	0.69	0.66
43	Austria	0	0	0	0	0.66	0.61
44	Kyrgyzstan	0.01	0.02	0.02	0.46	0.78	0.55
45	Finland	1.97	1.38	1.14	2.43	1.21	0.54
46	Singapore	0	0	0	0	0.55	0.49
47	Madagascar	0.51	0.15	0.43	0.51	0.47	0.47
48	Ethiopia	0	0	0	0.37	0.61	0.45
49	Denmark	2.39	1.11	0.77	1.87	1.29	0.43
50	Uzbekistan	0.01	0.02	0.22	0	0	0.41
51	Yemen	0.03	0	0	0.17	0.03	0.38
52	Slovakia	0.53	0.1	0.08	0.11	0.31	0.33
53	New Caledonia	1.16	1.13	0.94	1.01	0.97	0.33
54	Peru	0.36	0.26	0.22	0.36	0.45	0.31
55	Croatia	0.68	0.54	0.61	0.57	0.6	0.25
56	Bulgaria	0.23	0.33	0.34	0.31	0.4	0.23
57	DR Congo	0.02	0.01	0.01	0.02	0.24	0.22
58	Zambia	0.07	0.1	0	0	0	0.22
59	Iran	0	0	0	0.02	0.1	0.21
60	Nepal	0.01	0.01	0	0.16	0.2	0.19
61	Lebanon	0.13	0.15	0.13	0.17	0.16	0.18
62	Ireland	0.15	0.18	1.5	1.14	1.46	0.18
63	Benin	0.12	0.08	0.16	0.05	0.16	0.17
64	Serbia	0.21	0.17	0.22	0.02	0.31	0.17
65	Argentina	0.83	0.99	1.72	0.93	0.46	0.16
66	Lithuania	0.37	0.25	0.3	0.39	0.12	0.13
67	Eswatini	0.01	0.02	0	0.08	0.09	0.12
68	Romania	0.41	0.43	0.49	0.25	0.08	0.12
69	Georgia	0.24	0.19	0.1	0.1	0.13	0.11
70	United States	3.34	2.02	1.8	2.38	1.37	0.11
71	Kuwait	0.25	0.05	0.1	0.05	0.05	0.1
72	Tajikistan	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.1	0.1	0.09
73	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.03	0.02	0.04	0	0.13	0.09
74	Togo	0.31	0.25	0.2	0.09	0.16	0.08
75	New Zealand	0.11	0.04	0.04	0.03	0.04	0.07
76	Kazakhstan	0	0	0	0	0.07	0.07
77	Senegal	0.89	0.89	0.95	0.5	0.13	0.07
78	Myanmar	0.09	0.32	0.01	0.27	0.06	0.06
79	Hungary	0.14	0.11	0.1	0	0.04	0.06
80	Greece	0.33	0.3	0.27	0.07	0.05	0.04
81	Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0.04
82	Jamaica	0.1	0.08	0.1	0.07	0.11	0.04
83	Namibia	0.06	0.06	0	0.03	0.02	0.03
84	Honduras	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.19	0.14	0.03
85	Latvia	0.08	0.04	0.03	0.05	0.02	0.03
86	Ghana	0.03	0	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.03
87	Luxembourg	0.07	0.07	0.06	0	0.03	0.02
88	North Macedonia	0.08	0	0.05	0.05	0.02	0.02
89	Azerbaijan	0.01	0.02	0.03	0.02	0.01	0.02
90	Switzerland	0.1	0.1	0.11	0.03	0.03	0.01
91	Kosovo	0	0.01	0.02	0	0.02	0.01
92	Syria	0	0.02	0.02	0.01	0	0.01
93	Slovenia	0	0	0	0	0	0.01
94	Uruguay	0	0	0	0.01	0.01	0.01
95	Armenia	0	0	0	0	0	0.01
96	Papua New Guinea	0	0	0	0.01	0	0.01
97	Estonia	0.02	0	0	0	0	0
98	Bangladesh	1.15	1.03	1.44	0.89	1.16	0
99	Malawi	0.04	0.03	0.01	0	0	0
100	Moldova	0.03	0.03	0.05	0.02	0.01	0
101	Bhutan	0	0	0	0	0	0
102	Lesotho	0	0	0	0	0	0
103	Puerto Rico	1.58	1.38	1.26	1.3	1.03	0
104	Costa Rica	0	0	0	0	0.02	0
105	Portugal	2.83	0.21	0.03	0	0	0
106	Zimbabwe	0	0	0	0	0	0
107	Afghanistan	0	0	0	0	0	0
108	Albania	0.08	0.11	0.13	0.04	0.05	0
109	Algeria	0	0	0	0	0	0
110	Aruba	0	0	0	0	0	0
111	Barbados	0	0	0	0	0	0
112	Belize	0	0	0	0	0	0
113	Bermuda	0	0	0	0	0	0
114	Botswana	0	0	0	0	0	0
115	British Virgin Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0
116	Burundi	0	0	0	0	0	0
117	Colombia	0.09	0.08	0	0	0	0
118	Cook Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0
119	Cyprus	0	0	0	0.06	0.02	0
120	Ecuador	0	0	0	0	0	0
121	Faroe Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0
122	Fiji	0	0	0	0	0	0
123	Greenland	0	0	0	0	0	0
124	Grenada	0	0	0	0	0	0
125	Mongolia	0	0	0	0	0	0
126	Mozambique	0	0	0	0	0	0
127	Nigeria	0.05	0.05	0.06	0	0	0
128	Oman	0	0	0	0	0	0
129	Paraguay	0	0	0	0	0	0
130	Saudi Arabia	0	0	0	0	0	0
131	Seychelles	0	0	0	0	0	0
132	Timor-Leste	0	0	0	0.12	0.12	0
133	Trinidad and Tobago	0	0	0	0	0	0
134	Venezuela	0	0	0	0	0	0

Methodology

The statistics are based on the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) International Energy Statistics. Values represent annual bituminous coal imports in million metric tons (Mmt). Where no value is available, the cell is left empty. A value of 0 indicates that the source reports zero. The sum of individually listed countries may differ slightly from the reported world total due to rounding. This page covers bituminous coal imports only and does not include other coal types, which are reported separately in the source.