Cobalt Production by Country

Cobalt production by country measures how much cobalt each country mines, expressed in tonnes. The figures refer to mine production of cobalt, in line with the underlying sources. The statistics combine an Our World in Data series for 2020-2023, built from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries and the BGS World Mineral Statistics, with 2024 and 2025 estimates taken directly from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026. The table below lists 14 countries that record cobalt production in the period. 2025 figures are available individually for 12 countries, which produced a combined 305,500 tonnes in 2025; together with the "Other countries" value of 9,100 tonnes, this is slightly above the reported World total of 310,000 tonnes because of source-level rounding and adjustments. New Caledonia keeps its earlier series (1,500 tonnes in 2024); most other countries report 2023 or earlier figures.

Countries With the Largest Cobalt Production in 2025

DR Congo produced the most cobalt in 2025 with 230,000 tonnes. Indonesia ranked second with 44,000, followed by Russia (7,700), Madagascar (3,900), the Philippines (3,700), and Australia (3,700). Canada (3,500), Papua New Guinea (2,800), Cuba (2,000), China (2,000), Türkiye (1,900), and the United States (300) complete the list.

Cobalt Production by Country

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#	Country	Latest Data (tonnes)	Year
1	DR Congo CD	230,000	2025
2	Indonesia ID	44,000	2025
3	Russia RU	7,700	2025
4	Madagascar MG	3,900	2025
5	Philippines PH	3,700	2025
6	Australia AU	3,700	2025
7	Canada CA	3,500	2025
8	Papua New Guinea PG	2,800	2025
9	Morocco MA	2,300	2021
10	Cuba CU	2000	2025
11	China CN	2000	2025
12	Türkiye TR	1900	2025
13	New Caledonia NC	1500	2024
14	United States US	300	2025

DR Congo alone accounted for about 74 percent of the World total in 2025, and DR Congo and Indonesia together for about 88 percent; the top three countries accounted for about 91 percent. DR Congo's output was about 5.2 times that of Indonesia. Only two countries produced more than 10,000 tonnes in 2025.

Cobalt Production Around the World

In Africa, DR Congo (230,000) leads by a wide margin, ahead of Madagascar (3,900). Morocco (2,300, 2022) follows with an older figure.

In Asia, Indonesia (44,000) leads, ahead of the Philippines (3,700) and China (2,000). In Europe, Russia (7,700) is the largest producer, ahead of Türkiye (1,900).

In the Americas, Canada (3,500) leads, ahead of Cuba (2,000) and the United States (300). In Oceania, Australia (3,700) leads, ahead of Papua New Guinea (2,800) and New Caledonia (1,500, 2024).

Largest Changes in Cobalt Production, 2024-2025

Indonesia recorded the largest increase, rising from 35,000 tonnes in 2024 to 44,000 in 2025 (up 9,000, about 26 percent). DR Congo rose from 226,000 to 230,000 (up 4,000), Madagascar by 800, the Philippines by 600, Papua New Guinea by 170, Canada by 150, and the United States by 100.

Australia recorded the largest decline, falling from 4,780 to 3,700 tonnes (down 1,080, about 23 percent). Cuba fell from 3,450 to 2,000 (down 1,450, about 42 percent), Russia by 300, and Türkiye by 300. China (2,000) held its level.

The World total rose from 302,000 to 310,000 tonnes (up 8,000, about 2.6 percent). Indonesia's increase alone was larger than the World increase, because offsetting declines at Australia, Cuba, Russia, and Türkiye reduced the net change. The source's value for countries not listed individually rose from 7,780 to 9,100 tonnes.

The 2024 figures in this release are revised from earlier values, most notably DR Congo (revised up from 220,000 to 226,000 tonnes), Indonesia (up from 28,000 to 35,000), Australia (up from 3,600 to 4,780), Russia (down from 8,700 to 8,000), and the United States (down from 300 to 200).

Cobalt Production by Country

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#	Country	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
1	DR Congo	98,000	119,000	144,000	175,000	226,000	230,000
2	Russia	9,000	8,000	9,200	8,700	8,000	7,700
3	Australia	5,630	5,295	5,790	5,220	4,780	3,700
4	Philippines	4,500	3,600	3,900	3,800	3,100	3,700
5	Cuba	3,800	4,000	3,700	3,300	3,450	2000
6	Canada	3,690	4,361	3,060	4,220	3,350	3,500
7	Papua New Guinea	2,940	2,953	2,990	3,070	2,630	2,800
8	Türkiye	-	2,400	2,100	2,500	2,200	1900
9	Morocco	2,300	2,300	-	-	-	-
10	China	2,200	2,200	-	-	2000	2000
11	New Caledonia	-	-	2000	2,570	1500	-
12	Indonesia	1100	2,700	9,600	19,000	35,000	44,000
13	Madagascar	850	2,800	3,500	4,000	3,100	3,900
14	United States	600	650	500	500	200	300

Methodology

The 2020-2023 figures come from Our World in Data, which compiles national cobalt production figures from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries, the USGS Historical Statistics for Mineral and Material Commodities, and the BGS World Mineral Statistics, with major processing by Our World in Data; USGS data is prioritized, with BGS data used to supplement it. The 2024 and 2025 figures are estimates from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 where available; New Caledonia keeps its earlier Our World in Data series. Values refer to mine production of cobalt, in tonnes, and 2025 figures are preliminary estimates from the source. The sum of individually reported country estimates may differ from the reported World total because country-level estimates and the World total are subject to source-level rounding and adjustments. In the table, a zero reflects no production, while an empty cell means that no value was reported.