Magnesium Compounds Reserves by Country

North Korea was once tied with Russia at the top of the table, but it has not reported a reserve value since 2019. The statistics below combine eight editions of the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries (2019-2026), covering magnesium compounds reserves, measured as magnesite, in thousand metric tons. Reserves are estimated quantities that can be economically extracted under applicable conditions. The ranking spans 14 countries (12 with reported 2025 values) and 5,265,000 thousand metric tons in listed 2025 reserves. A further 2,500,000 thousand metric tons sits under Other countries, unassigned to individual states. USGS reports a world reserve total of 7,800,000 thousand metric tons, rounded in the source.

Russia (2,300,000 thousand metric tons) leads Slovakia (1,200,000), with the pair holding about 66.5% of the listed total between them. China (700,000) is less than one-third of the leader; Greece and Australia (280,000 each) and Brazil (200,000) are smaller still.

Magnesium Compounds Reserves by Country

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#	Country	Latest Data (thousand metric tons)	Year
1	Russia RU	2,300,000	2025
2	North Korea KP	2,300,000	2019
3	Slovakia SK	1,200,000	2025
4	China CN	700,000	2025
5	Australia AU	280,000	2025
6	Greece GR	280,000	2025
7	Brazil BR	200,000	2025
8	Türkiye TR	110,000	2025
9	India IN	66,000	2025
10	Austria AT	49,000	2025
11	United States US	35,000	2025
12	Spain ES	35,000	2025
13	Iran IR	10,000	2025
14	Saudi Arabia SA	2,800	2023

China was the only listed country to change in 2025, rising by 20,000 thousand metric tons.

North Korea disappears from the table

North Korea was listed at 2,300,000 thousand metric tons in 2018 and 2019, matching Russia's figure, but no value has been reported since 2020. Its disappearance from the table reduced the individually listed reserves by roughly 30% relative to the earlier listed total, moving every lower-ranked country up one place without a change in its own reported figure.

Slovakia's tenfold jump

Slovakia reported 120,000 thousand metric tons in 2018-2019 and 370,000 from 2020 through 2022, then 1,200,000 in 2023 — a 224.3% increase from the previous figure. That tenfold increase from the 2018-2019 level moved Slovakia into second place. The figure has held since then, while China, the country it displaced, fell from 1,000,000 to 580,000 in 2022 before recovering to 700,000.

Only China changed in 2025

Eleven of the twelve reported 2025 values match 2024; China's rise from 680,000 to 700,000 (+2.9%) was the sole change. Russia, Greece, the United States and Spain have held the same figures since 2018. Türkiye halved from 230,000 to 110,000 by 2021 and has remained at 110,000 since 2021, while Saudi Arabia's 2,800 for 2023 remains a single-year entry.

Magnesium Compounds Reserves by Country

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#	Country	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
1	Russia	2,300,000	2,300,000	2,300,000	2,300,000	2,300,000	2,300,000	2,300,000	2,300,000
2	North Korea	2,300,000	2,300,000	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	China	1,000,000	1,000,000	1,000,000	1,000,000	580,000	580,000	680,000	700,000
4	Brazil	390,000	390,000	200,000	200,000	200,000	200,000	200,000	200,000
5	Australia	320,000	320,000	320,000	290,000	290,000	280,000	280,000	280,000
6	Greece	280,000	280,000	280,000	280,000	280,000	280,000	280,000	280,000
7	Türkiye	230,000	230,000	205,000	110,000	110,000	110,000	110,000	110,000
8	Slovakia	120,000	120,000	370,000	370,000	370,000	1,200,000	1,200,000	1,200,000
9	India	82,000	82,000	82,000	-	82,000	66,000	66,000	66,000
10	Austria	50,000	50,000	49,000	49,000	49,000	49,000	49,000	49,000
11	United States	35,000	35,000	35,000	35,000	35,000	35,000	35,000	35,000
12	Spain	35,000	35,000	35,000	35,000	35,000	35,000	35,000	35,000
13	Iran	-	-	-	-	12,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
14	Saudi Arabia	-	-	-	-	-	2,800	-	-

Methodology

Figures come from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2019-2026, with 2025 values estimated. Units are thousand metric tons of magnesite, as reported by the source. 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.