Lead Production by Country

Lead production by country shows how much lead is mined in each country, measured in tonnes. The figures refer to mine production in terms of lead content, in line with the underlying sources. The statistics combine an Our World in Data series for the earlier years (2020-2024), 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 covers 50 countries included in the underlying data during the period. USGS reports 2025 estimates for 12 countries, which produced a combined 3,980,000 tonnes in 2025; together with the "Other countries" value of 500,000 tonnes, this totals 4,480,000 tonnes, which is 20,000 tonnes below the reported World total of 4,500,000 tonnes in the source. The remaining countries retain their latest available figures from the earlier series, mostly from 2023.

Largest Lead-Producing Countries in 2025

China produced the most lead in 2025 with 1,900,000 tonnes. Australia ranked second with 480,000, followed by Peru (290,000), the United States (280,000), Russia (260,000), India (220,000), Mexico (200,000), Bolivia (100,000), Sweden (70,000), and Türkiye (70,000).

Lead Production by Country

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#	Country	Latest Data (tonnes)	Year
1	China CN	1,900,000	2025
2	Australia AU	480,000	2025
3	Peru PE	290,000	2025
4	United States US	280,000	2025
5	Russia RU	260,000	2025
6	India IN	220,000	2025
7	Mexico MX	200,000	2025
8	Bolivia BO	100,000	2025
9	Sweden SE	70,000	2025
10	Türkiye TR	70,000	2025
11	Iran IR	70,000	2025
12	Kazakhstan KZ	45,200	2023
13	North Macedonia MK	43,926	2023
14	South Africa ZA	40,271	2023
15	Tajikistan TJ	40,000	2025
16	Nigeria NG	36,000	2023
17	Cuba CU	35,000	2023
18	Morocco MA	35,000	2023
19	Argentina AR	32,300	2023
20	Poland PL	30,800	2023
21	North Korea KP	25,000	2023
22	Uzbekistan UZ	23,000	2023
23	Portugal PT	22,800	2023
24	Myanmar MM	21,000	2023
25	Brazil BR	16,100	2023
26	Vietnam VN	15,600	2023
27	Greece GR	15,200	2023
28	Honduras HN	12,000	2023
29	Spain ES	10,547	2023
30	Namibia NA	10,332	2023
31	Mongolia MN	8,500	2023
32	Pakistan PK	7,838	2023
33	Ireland IE	7,019	2023
34	Indonesia ID	6,400	2023
35	Serbia RS	5,900	2023
36	Bulgaria BG	5,400	2023
37	Bosnia and Herzegovina BA	4,075	2023
38	Montenegro ME	3,714	2023
39	Kosovo XK	3,633	2023
40	Georgia GE	2,301	2023
41	Canada CA	2000	2023
42	Nepal NP	2000	2023
43	Laos LA	985	2023
44	Finland FI	909	2023
45	Romania RO	700	2023
46	Chile CL	325	2023
47	South Korea KR	240	2023
48	Slovakia SK	155	2023
49	Guatemala GT	0	2023
50	United Kingdom GB	0	2023

China alone accounted for about 42 percent of the World total in 2025, and China and Australia together for about 53 percent; the top three countries accounted for about 59 percent. China's output was about 4 times that of Australia. Seven countries produced at least 200,000 tonnes in 2025.

Lead Production Around the World

In Asia, China (1,900,000) leads by a wide margin, ahead of India (220,000); Iran (70,000) is in the Middle East, and Tajikistan (40,000) in Central Asia; Kazakhstan (45,200, 2023) and Myanmar (21,000, 2023) retain older values. In Oceania, Australia (480,000) is the dominant producer, ahead of the none-listed smaller entrants.

In North America, the United States (280,000) leads, ahead of Mexico (200,000); Canada (2,000, 2023) retains an older value. In South America, Peru (290,000) leads, ahead of Bolivia (100,000); Argentina (32,300, 2023) and Brazil (16,100, 2023) retain older values. In Europe, Russia (260,000) is the largest producer, ahead of Sweden (70,000) and Türkiye (70,000); Poland (30,800, 2023) and North Macedonia (43,926, 2023) retain older values. In Africa, South Africa (40,271, 2023) leads, ahead of Morocco (35,000, 2023) and Namibia (10,332, 2023).

Largest Changes in Lead Production, 2024-2025

Türkiye recorded the largest increase, rising from 66,000 tonnes in 2024 to 70,000 in 2025 (up 4,000, about 6 percent). Tajikistan rose from 39,000 to 40,000 (up 1,000, about 3 percent). Iran (70,000) and Russia (260,000) held their levels.

Mexico and China each recorded the largest decline, falling by 40,000 tonnes. Mexico fell from 240,000 to 200,000 (down 40,000, about 17 percent), China from 1,940,000 to 1,900,000 (down 40,000, about 2 percent), the United States from 304,000 to 280,000 (down 24,000, about 8 percent), Bolivia by 10,000, India by 6,000, Sweden by 5,000, and Australia and Peru each by 1,000.

The World total fell from 4,600,000 to 4,500,000 tonnes (down 100,000, about 2.2 percent); the World total is reported separately from the country figures in the source.

Where the earlier series provided a 2024 value, the revisions are visible: Australia was revised up from 430,000 to 481,000 tonnes, Mexico up from 180,000 to 240,000, Bolivia up from 60,000 to 110,000, Russia up from 220,000 to 260,000, Peru up from 270,000 to 291,000, and Türkiye was revised down from 70,000 to 66,000 tonnes.

Lead Production by Country

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#	Country	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
1	China	1,900,000	1,960,000	1,950,000	1,960,000	1,940,000	1,900,000
2	Australia	494,000	485,000	435,000	430,000	481,000	480,000
3	United States	306,000	294,000	273,000	270,000	304,000	280,000
4	Mexico	260,000	272,000	273,000	183,000	240,000	200,000
5	Peru	242,000	264,000	255,000	273,000	291,000	290,000
6	Russia	210,000	200,000	210,000	218,000	260,000	260,000
7	India	204,000	215,000	220,000	226,000	226,000	220,000
8	Sweden	70,000	65,000	75,000	72,000	75,000	70,000
9	Iran	70,000	50,000	52,000	60,000	70,000	70,000
10	Poland	65,660	39,514	31,000	30,800	-	-
11	Bolivia	65,000	93,000	90,000	60,000	110,000	100,000
12	Türkiye	63,000	75,000	67,000	68,000	66,000	70,000
13	Tajikistan	46,000	56,000	53,000	39,000	39,000	40,000
14	North Macedonia	44,928	42,873	41,471	43,926	-	-
15	Morocco	38,162	31,318	36,022	35,000	-	-
16	Kazakhstan	30,000	29,900	30,100	45,200	-	-
17	Cuba	30,000	30,000	33,000	35,000	-	-
18	Portugal	28,178	30,067	23,347	22,800	-	-
19	South Africa	28,048	31,224	39,974	40,271	-	-
20	North Korea	25,000	25,000	25,000	25,000	-	-
21	Myanmar	22,710	25,355	25,400	21,000	-	-
22	Greece	19,656	16,758	10,100	15,200	-	-
23	Bulgaria	18,929	10,193	7,825	5,400	-	-
24	Uzbekistan	18,400	22,000	23,000	23,000	-	-
25	Nigeria	16,000	38,000	44,000	36,000	-	-
26	Ireland	14,401	13,192	14,181	7,019	-	-
27	Argentina	13,086	17,100	18,600	32,300	-	-
28	Honduras	12,300	12,000	12,000	12,000	-	-
29	Mongolia	12,000	10,940	9,500	8,500	-	-
30	Vietnam	11,700	13,800	17,500	15,600	-	-
31	Spain	11,397	10,965	9,272	10,547	-	-
32	Namibia	9,181	10,194	13,401	10,332	-	-
33	Indonesia	7,100	6,700	4,800	6,400	-	-
34	Pakistan	7,094	7,277	8,886	7,838	-	-
35	Serbia	5,400	6,300	6,700	5,900	-	-
36	Brazil	5,352	6,307	7,407	16,100	-	-
37	Kosovo	4,737	5,241	3,358	3,633	-	-
38	Canada	3,800	9,339	4,436	2000	-	-
39	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3,360	3,679	3,900	4,075	-	-
40	Nepal	1800	5,600	2000	2000	-	-
41	South Korea	1681	1528	974	240	-	-
42	Finland	1532	1494	1535	909	-	-
43	Chile	1386	382	457	325	-	-
44	Georgia	1183	1253	2,192	2,301	-	-
45	Montenegro	1008	2004	1349	3,714	-	-
46	Romania	500	700	300	700	-	-
47	Guatemala	422	0	0	0	-	-
48	Slovakia	102	101	127	155	-	-
49	United Kingdom	100	100	100	0	-	-
50	Laos	98	173	1803	985	-	-

Methodology

The earlier figures come from Our World in Data, which compiles national lead production figures from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 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 earlier series covers 2020-2024. The 2024 and 2025 figures are estimates from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 where available; countries not reported individually keep their latest available values from the earlier series, mostly from 2023. Values refer to mine production of lead content, in tonnes, and 2025 figures are preliminary estimates from the source. The source reports production in thousand-ton units for 2024-2025; values here are expressed in tonnes. The sum of individually reported country estimates does not equal the reported World total because the source applies rounding and other adjustments at the country and World levels. In the table, a zero reflects no production, while an empty cell means that no value was reported.