Iron Ore Reserves by Country (Crude Ore)

Three countries appear in the crude-ore table for the first time in 2025 — and one of them lands directly in fifth place. The figures come from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2019-2026 and describe crude iron ore reserves in million metric tons. Reserves represent estimated quantities that can be economically extracted under applicable conditions, rather than material mined in a given year. All 17 countries have reported 2025 values, with listed reserves totaling 192,990 million metric tons.

Australia (59,000 million metric tons) leads Russia (35,000) and Brazil (34,000), with the top three holding about two-thirds of the listed total between them. China (17,000) follows at half of Brazil's figure, and debutant Mauritania (10,000) slots into fifth. The listed total excludes 11,000 million metric tons reported under Other countries. The rounded world total stands at 200,000 million metric tons in the source.

Iron Ore Reserves by Country (Crude Ore)

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#	Country	2025 (million metric tons)
1	Australia AU	59,000
2	Russia RU	35,000
3	Brazil BR	34,000
4	China CN	17,000
5	Mauritania MR	10,000
6	Ukraine UA	6,500
7	Canada CA	6,000
8	India IN	5,500
9	Iran IR	4,200
10	Kazakhstan KZ	3,800
11	United States US	3,600
12	Chile CL	3,000
13	Peru PE	1800
14	Sweden SE	1300
15	South Africa ZA	1200
16	Mexico MX	940
17	Türkiye TR	150

Kazakhstan's +52.0% led 2025 in percentage terms.

Mauritania enters in fifth place

Mauritania enters the series with 10,000 million metric tons, immediately taking fifth place and outranking twelve incumbents. Chile (3,000) and Mexico (940) enter lower in the ranking, alongside Peru (1,800) and Sweden (1,300) near the bottom. At 150, Türkiye reports the smallest figure — Mauritania's debut is more than sixty-five times larger.

China breaks its seven-year run

China reported 20,000 million metric tons in every year from 2018 through 2024, then 17,000 for 2025 (-15.0%) — its first movement in the entire span. Peru fell from 2,600 to 1,800 (-30.8%) in the same year, while Kazakhstan rose from 2,500 to 3,800 (+52.0%), Iran from 3,800 to 4,200 (+10.5%) and South Africa from 930 to 1,200 (+29.0%). All of these 2025 changes occurred below the top three.

Iran rises while Brazil stays at 34,000

Iran has risen every year since 2021, from 2,700 to 4,200; the United States climbed from 2,900 to 3,600; Australia added 1,000 million metric tons in 2025 (+1.7%), extending its lead. Against them, Brazil has held 34,000 since 2020, and Ukraine, Canada and Sweden have each reported the same reserve figure throughout the 2018–2025 series: 6,500, 6,000 and 1,300 million metric tons, respectively.

Iron Ore Reserves by Country (Crude Ore)

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#	Country	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
1	Australia	50,000	48,000	50,000	51,000	51,000	58,000	58,000	59,000
2	Russia	25,000	25,000	25,000	25,000	29,000	29,000	35,000	35,000
3	Brazil	32,000	29,000	34,000	34,000	34,000	34,000	34,000	34,000
4	China	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	17,000
5	Mauritania	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10,000
6	Ukraine	6,500	6,500	6,500	6,500	6,500	6,500	6,500	6,500
7	Canada	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000
8	India	5,400	5,500	5,500	5,500	5,500	5,500	5,500	5,500
9	Iran	2,700	2,700	2,700	2,700	2,700	3,300	3,800	4,200
10	Kazakhstan	2,500	2,500	2,500	2,500	2,500	2,500	2,500	3,800
11	United States	2,900	3,000	3,000	3,000	3,000	3,100	3,600	3,600
12	Chile	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3,000
13	Peru	-	-	-	2,600	2,600	2,600	2,600	1800
14	Sweden	1300	1300	1300	1300	1300	1300	1300	1300
15	South Africa	1200	1100	1000	1000	1000	990	930	1200
16	Mexico	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	940
17	Türkiye	-	-	-	130	130	152	150	150

Methodology

Figures come from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2019-2026, with 2025 values estimated. Units are million metric tons of crude ore, exactly as reported. This page measures crude ore; iron content is published as a separate series and the two are not interchangeable. Empty means the source reported no value; 0 means the source reports zero. The source’s world total, where published, may be rounded, approximate, a lower bound, or a textual estimate, so shares are computed against the sum of the listed countries. Reserves and production are different measures and should not be combined without equalizing units.