Lignite Consumption by Country

Lignite consumption by country measures the amount of lignite consumed in each country, measured in million metric tons (Mmt) per year. Lignite, also known as brown coal, is the lowest rank of coal and has relatively high moisture content and lower heat content than higher coal ranks. It is used mainly as a fuel for steam-electric power generation. The statistics are based on the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) International Energy Statistics. The table covers 73 countries with a reported 2024 value and includes data from 2019 to 2024. The world total stood at 979.6 Mmt in 2024, down from 1,003.5 Mmt in 2023.

The map highlights where lignite consumption is 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.

Lignite Consumption by Country

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#	Country	2024 (Mmt)
1	China CN	388.76
2	Germany DE	91.13
3	Türkiye TR	76.11
4	Russia RU	60.38
5	India IN	44.45
6	Poland PL	41.11
7	Australia AU	40.25
8	United States US	35.74
9	Serbia RS	34.72
10	Czech Republic CZ	24.54
11	Laos LA	16.6
12	Bulgaria BG	15
13	Indonesia ID	13.94
14	Thailand TH	12.89
15	Romania RO	12.41
16	Kosovo XK	8.06
17	Uzbekistan UZ	7.45
18	Canada CA	7.38
19	Mongolia MN	7.25
20	Greece GR	6.65
21	Pakistan PK	5.77
22	North Macedonia MK	4.45
23	Hungary HU	3.94
24	Bosnia and Herzegovina BA	3.75
25	Brazil BR	3.16
26	Kyrgyzstan KG	3.15
27	Kazakhstan KZ	2.58
28	Slovenia SI	2.46
29	Myanmar MM	1.67
30	Montenegro ME	1.41
31	Brunei BN	1.31
32	New Zealand NZ	0.24
33	Niger NE	0.19
34	Georgia GE	0.16
35	Slovakia SK	0.16
36	Tajikistan TJ	0.14
37	Switzerland CH	0.08
38	Cambodia KH	0.03
39	Mexico MX	0.03
40	Netherlands NL	0.02
41	France FR	0.02
42	Austria AT	0.01
43	Japan JP	0.01
44	Saudi Arabia SA	0
45	Croatia HR	0
46	Malaysia MY	0
47	Lithuania LT	0
48	Egypt EG	0
49	Albania AL	0
50	Armenia AM	0
51	Syria SY	0
52	Bangladesh BD	0
53	Belarus BY	0
54	Bermuda BM	0
55	Bhutan BT	0
56	Burundi BI	0
57	Chile CL	0
58	Colombia CO	0
59	Ireland IE	0
60	Italy IT	0
61	Lesotho LS	0
62	Malawi MW	0
63	Moldova MD	0
64	New Caledonia NC	0
65	Oman OM	0
66	South Korea KR	0
67	Spain ES	0
68	Togo TG	0
69	Trinidad and Tobago TT	0
70	Tunisia TN	0
71	Ukraine UA	0
72	United Arab Emirates AE	0
73	Vietnam VN	0

Analysis: China alone accounted for about 40 percent of the world total in 2024, while China and Germany together accounted for about 49 percent. The top three accounted for about 57 percent, the top five for about 67 percent, and the top ten for about 85 percent. China consumed about 4.3 times as much lignite as Germany, the second-largest consumer, highlighting the strong concentration of global lignite consumption.

Who Leads Lignite Consumption?

Data: China (388.8 Mmt) was the largest consumer in 2024, ahead of Germany (91.13 Mmt). The next largest were Türkiye (76.105 Mmt), Russia (60.382 Mmt), India (44.45 Mmt), Poland (41.11 Mmt), and Australia (40.25 Mmt). Analysis: The top five alone — China, Germany, Türkiye, Russia, and India — accounted for about 67 percent of the world total, while the remaining 68 countries together accounted for less than 33 percent. Context: This concentration means that changes in consumption in a relatively small number of countries can have a noticeable effect on the global total.

Where Is Lignite Concentrated?

Analysis: The top ten consumers accounted for about 85 percent of the world total in 2024, leaving less than 15 percent for the other 63 countries. In Asia, China was by far the largest consumer, followed by India, while Russia and Türkiye were also among the major consumers across Europe and Eurasia. In Europe, Germany, Poland, Serbia, and the Czech Republic were among the largest consumers. In North America, the United States was the largest reported consumer. Context: Lignite has relatively high moisture content and lower heat content than higher coal ranks, which helps explain why its use is often closely associated with domestic coal resources and nearby power generation.

What Changed Most Recently? (2023-2024)

Analysis: China saw the largest increase, rising from 371.5 to 388.8 Mmt, an increase of 17.265 Mmt or about 4.6 percent. The United States (+13.678 Mmt) and India (+2.119 Mmt) also recorded increases. The sharpest decline was in Indonesia, where consumption fell from 46.241 to 13.936 Mmt, a decrease of 32.305 Mmt. Overall, the world total fell by about 23.9 Mmt, or 2.4 percent, to 979.6 Mmt. Context: Year-to-year changes like these show whether movements in the global total are broad-based or heavily influenced by individual countries.

How Has Lignite Evolved Since 2019?

Analysis: The world total moved from 1,040.5 Mmt in 2019 to 979.6 Mmt in 2024, with a low of 936.6 Mmt during the period. For perspective, China increased from 307.2 to 388.8 Mmt, while Germany declined from 130.2 to 91.13 Mmt. Context: Comparing 2019-2024 shows how the largest consumers have changed over time — China strengthened its position, while several other major consumers recorded declines or more modest changes.

Lignite in Context

Context: Lignite, or brown coal, is the lowest rank of coal and has relatively high moisture content and lower heat content than higher coal ranks. It is used mainly as a fuel for steam-electric power generation. Unlike the table, which shows “how much” each country consumed, this section explains “why it matters”: the concentration of consumption among a small group of countries means that changes in those markets have a disproportionate effect on the global total. The EIA classifies lignite separately as a distinct coal rank within its coal statistics.

Lignite Consumption by Country

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#	Country	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
1	China	307.24	301.2	329.28	304.4	371.49	388.76
2	Germany	130.18	107.43	126.36	130.8	101.34	91.13
3	Türkiye	82.4	59.89	69.64	79.08	76.31	76.11
4	Russia	69	61.74	68.52	74.23	63.95	60.38
5	India	43.08	38.7	45.87	48.09	42.33	44.45
6	Poland	50.46	46.11	52.62	54.8	40.37	41.11
7	Australia	43.04	41.1	41.54	40.3	38.89	40.25
8	United States	46.69	44.46	44.51	42.21	22.06	35.74
9	Serbia	38.65	40.67	37.43	36.39	36.44	34.72
10	Czech Republic	36.2	29.45	29.94	32.66	27.62	24.54
11	Laos	14.58	12.65	13.11	13.46	15.47	16.6
12	Bulgaria	28.3	22.28	28.55	35.06	19.82	15
13	Indonesia	26.75	26.75	31.32	29.51	46.24	13.94
14	Thailand	14.09	13.4	14.5	13.9	12.98	12.89
15	Romania	21.34	15.25	17.93	18.02	14.59	12.41
16	Kosovo	8.05	8.27	8.32	8.92	6.91	8.06
17	Uzbekistan	4.45	4.61	5.08	6.21	7.86	7.45
18	Canada	8.08	7.25	8.19	6.37	6.6	7.38
19	Mongolia	6.74	7.15	6.52	4.39	6.81	7.25
20	Greece	26.63	14.05	12.06	13.86	10.02	6.65
21	Pakistan	4.44	4.42	4.11	4.41	5.27	5.77
22	North Macedonia	5.78	5.1	4.23	5.72	5.29	4.45
23	Hungary	6.91	6.08	4.93	4.97	4.12	3.94
24	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2.16	2.1	2.28	6.81	3.67	3.75
25	Brazil	1.62	2.31	1.9	2.65	3.32	3.16
26	Kyrgyzstan	1.58	1.18	0.81	2.31	3.33	3.15
27	Kazakhstan	3.26	3.78	3.19	2.99	2.96	2.58
28	Slovenia	3.46	3.44	3.15	2.2	2	2.46
29	Myanmar	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.19	0.49	1.67
30	Montenegro	1.49	1.59	1.45	1.52	1.66	1.41
31	Brunei	0.34	1.2	1.3	1.2	0.84	1.31
32	New Zealand	0.29	0.3	0.28	0.27	0.28	0.24
33	Niger	0	0	0	0.26	0.24	0.19
34	Georgia	0	0	0	0.15	0.16	0.16
35	Slovakia	1.95	1.84	1.7	1.29	1.18	0.16
36	Tajikistan	0.07	0.08	0.1	0.11	0.14	0.14
37	Switzerland	0.01	0.01	0.02	0.11	0.08	0.08
38	Cambodia	0	0	0	0.11	0.03	0.03
39	Mexico	0.38	0.3	0.29	0.27	0.28	0.03
40	Netherlands	0.05	0.02	0.01	0.02	0.02	0.02
41	France	0.11	0.06	0.05	0.02	0.02	0.02
42	Austria	0.11	0.08	0.06	0	0	0.01
43	Japan	0.02	0.02	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01
44	Saudi Arabia	0.01	0.01	0	0.01	0.01	0
45	Croatia	0.03	0.02	0.01	0.01	0.01	0
46	Malaysia	0	0.01	0.01	0	0	0
47	Lithuania	0	0	0	0	0	0
48	Egypt	0	0	0	0	0	0
49	Albania	0.12	0.13	0.24	0.18	0	0
50	Armenia	0	0	0	0	0	0
51	Syria	0	0	0.01	0	0	0
52	Bangladesh	0.12	0.13	0.17	0.16	0	0
53	Belarus	0.01	0	0	0	0	0
54	Bermuda	0	0	0	0	0	0
55	Bhutan	0	0	0	0	0	0
56	Burundi	0	0	0	0	0	0
57	Chile	0	0	0	0	0	0
58	Colombia	0	0	0	0	0	0
59	Ireland	0.01	0.02	0.03	0.02	0.02	0
60	Italy	0	0	0	0	0	0
61	Lesotho	0	0	0	0	0	0
62	Malawi	0	0	0	0	0	0
63	Moldova	0	0	0	0	0	0
64	New Caledonia	0	0	0	0	0	0
65	Oman	0	0	0	0	0	0
66	South Korea	0	0	0	0	0	0
67	Spain	0	0	0	0	0	0
68	Togo	0	0	0	0	0	0
69	Trinidad and Tobago	0	0	0	0	0	0
70	Tunisia	0	0	0	0	0	0
71	Ukraine	0	0	0	0	0	0
72	United Arab Emirates	0	0	0	0	0	0
73	Vietnam	0.29	0	0.01	0	0	0

Methodology

The statistics are based on the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) International Energy Statistics. Values represent annual lignite consumption 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 lignite consumption only and does not include other coal types, which are reported separately in the source.