Lignite Production by Country

Lignite production by country measures the amount of lignite produced in each country, measured in million metric tons (Mmt) per year. Lignite, also known as brown coal, is a low-rank coal with relatively low energy content and high moisture. It is used primarily for power generation and is often consumed near producing regions. The statistics are based on the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) International Energy Statistics. The table covers 42 countries with a reported 2024 value and includes data from 2019 to 2024. The world total stood at 986.3 Mmt in 2024, down from 997.3 Mmt in 2023.

The map highlights where lignite production was most concentrated in 2024, while the table below provides the complete 2019-2024 series. The figures show that global production was highly concentrated among a relatively small number of countries.

Lignite Production by Country

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#	Country	2024 (Mmt)
1	China CN	230.39
2	Indonesia ID	165.93
3	Germany DE	91.94
4	Türkiye TR	76.54
5	Russia RU	73.14
6	India IN	44.45
7	Poland PL	40.98
8	Australia AU	40.25
9	United States US	36.3
10	Serbia RS	31.25
11	Czech Republic CZ	23.68
12	Laos LA	16.75
13	Bulgaria BG	14.99
14	Thailand TH	12.81
15	Romania RO	12.59
16	Mongolia MN	12.24
17	Kosovo XK	8.07
18	Canada CA	7.45
19	Greece GR	6.32
20	Pakistan PK	5.77
21	Uzbekistan UZ	5.09
22	Bosnia and Herzegovina BA	4.63
23	Kazakhstan KZ	4.25
24	Hungary HU	3.89
25	Kyrgyzstan KG	3.63
26	North Macedonia MK	3.23
27	Brazil BR	3.16
28	Slovenia SI	2.17
29	Myanmar MM	1.94
30	Montenegro ME	1.63
31	New Zealand NZ	0.24
32	Niger NE	0.19
33	Georgia GE	0.18
34	Tajikistan TJ	0.14
35	Albania AL	0.06
36	Cambodia KH	0.03
37	Mexico MX	0.03
38	Armenia AM	0
39	Bhutan BT	0
40	Lesotho LS	0
41	Malawi MW	0
42	Slovakia SK	0

China was the largest producer of lignite in 2024, accounting for about 23 percent of the world total. Indonesia ranked second with 165.9 Mmt, followed by Germany with 91.9 Mmt. China and Indonesia together accounted for about 40 percent of global production, while the top three accounted for about 50 percent. China's lignite production was about 1.4 times that of Indonesia.

Who Leads Lignite Production?

China was the largest producer in 2024 at 230.4 Mmt, followed by Indonesia at 165.9 Mmt and Germany at 91.9 Mmt. Türkiye ranked fourth with 76.5 Mmt, followed by Russia at 73.1 Mmt, India at 44.4 Mmt, and Poland at 41.0 Mmt. The top five countries — China, Indonesia, Germany, Türkiye and Russia — accounted for about 65 percent of the world total. The remaining 37 countries together contributed about 35 percent, showing that global lignite production was strongly concentrated among the leading producers.

Where Is Lignite Production Concentrated?

Asia accounted for the largest concentration of lignite production, led by China and Indonesia. India, Laos, Mongolia and other countries were among the region's other producers. In Europe, Germany was the largest producer in the dataset, followed by Türkiye and Russia, with Poland, Serbia and the Czech Republic also reporting substantial production. In North America, the United States was the largest producer, followed by Canada and Mexico. Australia was the leading producer in Oceania, while South Africa was the largest producer in Africa.

What Changed Most Recently? (2023-2024)

Indonesia saw the largest increase in production, rising from 155.0 Mmt in 2023 to 165.9 Mmt in 2024, an increase of 10.897 Mmt or about 7.0 percent. China increased by 3.704 Mmt, while Mongolia recorded an increase of 2.652 Mmt. Germany recorded the largest decline, falling from 102.3 Mmt to 91.9 Mmt, a decrease of 10.313 Mmt. Overall, global lignite production decreased by about 11.0 Mmt, or 1.1 percent, to 986.3 Mmt in 2024.

How Has Lignite Production Changed Since 2019?

Global lignite production decreased from 1,063.4 Mmt in 2019 to 986.3 Mmt in 2024, an overall decline of about 7.2 percent. Production fell to a low of 960.6 Mmt in 2020 before recovering in subsequent years.

China remained the largest producer throughout the period, increasing from 214.0 Mmt in 2019 to 230.4 Mmt in 2024, an increase of about 7.7 percent. Indonesia also recorded substantial growth, rising from 125.0 Mmt to 165.9 Mmt, an increase of about 32.8 percent. The United States moved in the opposite direction, with production falling from 48.3 Mmt in 2019 to 36.3 Mmt in 2024, a decline of about 24.8 percent.

Lignite in Context

Lignite is a relatively low-rank coal whose properties include lower energy content and higher moisture than higher-rank coals. It is used primarily for steam-electric power generation and is often consumed near producing regions because its high moisture content makes long-distance transport less economical.

The production data show how concentrated this part of the coal market is. China, Indonesia and Germany together accounted for about 49 percent of global lignite production in 2024, while China and Indonesia alone accounted for about 40 percent. Changes in production in these countries therefore have a substantial effect on the global total. The EIA reports lignite separately from other coal ranks, reflecting differences in coal characteristics and energy content.

Lignite Production by Country

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#	Country	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
1	China	213.99	213.85	226.15	188.39	226.68	230.39
2	Indonesia	124.96	118.11	128.64	114.86	155.03	165.93
3	Germany	131.31	107.38	126.26	130.8	102.25	91.94
4	Türkiye	83.7	71.64	82.11	80.93	75.61	76.54
5	Russia	81.89	73.32	79.71	88.81	76.92	73.14
6	India	38.19	34.38	45.21	47.29	42.12	44.45
7	Poland	50.33	45.98	52.36	54.62	40.1	40.98
8	Australia	43.32	41.51	41.62	40.3	38.89	40.25
9	United States	48.26	44.78	42.97	43.12	37.08	36.3
10	Serbia	38.88	39.67	36.42	35.13	33.22	31.25
11	Czech Republic	37.47	29.43	29.28	33.39	28.66	23.68
12	Laos	15.26	14.37	13.62	14.35	15.36	16.75
13	Bulgaria	28	22.3	28.29	35.52	20.97	14.99
14	Thailand	14.08	13.25	14.22	13.64	12.81	12.81
15	Romania	21.65	15	17.73	18.16	14.75	12.59
16	Mongolia	8.05	7.25	7.51	4.8	9.59	12.24
17	Kosovo	8.06	8.38	8.54	9.07	6.92	8.07
18	Canada	8.14	7.35	8.29	6.43	6.66	7.45
19	Greece	27.38	14.05	12.1	13.7	10.47	6.32
20	Pakistan	4.44	4.42	4.11	4.41	5.27	5.77
21	Uzbekistan	3.87	3.87	4.81	5.09	6.04	5.09
22	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2.2	1.88	2.28	6.58	4.59	4.63
23	Kazakhstan	5.93	5.42	4.77	5.25	5.67	4.25
24	Hungary	6.85	6.13	4.99	4.93	4.07	3.89
25	Kyrgyzstan	2.28	2.16	1.56	3.1	3.14	3.63
26	North Macedonia	5.48	5.03	4.12	5.08	4	3.23
27	Brazil	1.62	2.31	1.9	2.65	3.32	3.16
28	Slovenia	3.14	3.18	2.61	2.36	2.44	2.17
29	Myanmar	0.79	0.76	0.59	0.28	0.71	1.94
30	Montenegro	1.61	1.67	1.69	1.73	1.86	1.63
31	New Zealand	0.29	0.3	0.29	0.28	0.28	0.24
32	Niger	0	0	0	0.26	0.24	0.19
33	Georgia	0	0	0	0.15	0.15	0.18
34	Tajikistan	0.07	0.08	0.1	0.11	0.14	0.14
35	Albania	0.12	0.13	0.24	0.18	0.22	0.06
36	Cambodia	0	0	0	0.11	0.03	0.03
37	Mexico	0.34	0.29	0.28	0.24	0.27	0.03
38	Armenia	0	0	0	0	0	0
39	Bhutan	0	0	0	0	0	0
40	Lesotho	0	0	0	0	0	0
41	Malawi	0	0	0	0	0	0
42	Slovakia	1.47	0.98	1.07	0.87	0.77	0

Methodology

The statistics are based on the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) International Energy Statistics. Values represent annual lignite production 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 production. The sum of the countries listed on this page may not equal the reported world total because the country-level data presented here do not necessarily represent the complete set of values used for the world total. This page covers lignite production only and does not include other coal types, which are reported separately in the source.