Subbituminous Coal Exports by Country

Subbituminous coal exports by country measure the amount of subbituminous coal exported by each country, expressed in million metric tons (Mmt) per year. Subbituminous coal ranks between lignite and bituminous coal and generally has a lower energy content than bituminous coal. The statistics are based on the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) International Energy Statistics. The table covers 90 countries and territories and includes data from 2019 to 2024. The reported world total stood at 365.5 Mmt in 2024, down from 381.7 Mmt in 2023.

The map highlights where subbituminous coal exports are most concentrated in 2024, while the table below provides the full 2019-2024 series. The analysis below highlights the countries and changes that stand out most clearly in the data.

Subbituminous Coal Exports by Country

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#	Country	2024 (Mmt)
1	Indonesia ID	329.79
2	Philippines PH	8.37
3	United States US	6.08
4	South Africa ZA	5.86
5	Netherlands NL	4.48
6	Mongolia MN	2.54
7	Kazakhstan KZ	2.14
8	India IN	1.68
9	Poland PL	1.45
10	Kyrgyzstan KG	0.77
11	Afghanistan AF	0.58
12	Australia AU	0.58
13	Malaysia MY	0.37
14	Spain ES	0.32
15	Thailand TH	0.1
16	Ireland IE	0.09
17	Botswana BW	0.07
18	Russia RU	0.06
19	Türkiye TR	0.04
20	Canada CA	0.03
21	Vietnam VN	0.03
22	Colombia CO	0.02
23	New Zealand NZ	0.01
24	Bulgaria BG	0.01
25	Belgium BE	0.01
26	Latvia LV	0
27	Peru PE	0
28	Bosnia and Herzegovina BA	0
29	Ecuador EC	0
30	Zimbabwe ZW	0
31	Egypt EG	0
32	South Korea KR	0
33	Saudi Arabia SA	0
34	Zambia ZM	0
35	Syria SY	0
36	Senegal SN	0
37	Lebanon LB	0
38	Malawi MW	0
39	Namibia NA	0
40	Switzerland CH	0
41	Brazil BR	0
42	Argentina AR	0
43	Bahrain BH	0
44	Barbados BB	0
45	Belarus BY	0
46	Bhutan BT	0
47	Burkina Faso BF	0
48	Myanmar MM	0
49	China CN	0
50	DR Congo CD	0
51	Cyprus CY	0
52	Denmark DK	0
53	Djibouti DJ	0
54	Dominican Republic DO	0
55	Estonia EE	0
56	Ethiopia ET	0
57	Finland FI	0
58	Georgia GE	0
59	Ghana GH	0
60	Hungary HU	0
61	Iceland IS	0
62	Iran IR	0
63	Israel IL	0
64	Japan JP	0
65	Jordan JO	0
66	Kenya KE	0
67	Lesotho LS	0
68	Luxembourg LU	0
69	Macau MO	0
70	Madagascar MG	0
71	Mali ML	0
72	Malta MT	0
73	Mexico MX	0
74	Morocco MA	0
75	Mozambique MZ	0
76	North Macedonia MK	0
77	Norway NO	0
78	Pakistan PK	0
79	Panama PA	0
80	Paraguay PY	0
81	Puerto Rico PR	0
82	Qatar QA	0
83	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines VC	0
84	Singapore SG	0
85	Slovenia SI	0
86	Sweden SE	0
87	Tajikistan TJ	0
88	Uganda UG	0
89	Ukraine UA	0
90	Venezuela VE	0

Indonesia dominated global subbituminous coal exports in 2024, accounting for about 90% of the reported world total. Indonesia and the Philippines together accounted for roughly 93%, while the top three exporters represented about 94%. The top five accounted for approximately 97%, and the top ten for about 99%. Indonesia exported around 39 times as much subbituminous coal as the Philippines, the second-largest exporter, illustrating the exceptional concentration of this trade.

Who Leads Subbituminous Coal Exports?

Indonesia was by far the largest exporter in 2024, with 329.785 Mmt, followed by the Philippines with 8.370 Mmt. The United States exported 6.080 Mmt, South Africa 5.864 Mmt, and the Netherlands 4.482 Mmt. Mongolia and Kazakhstan followed with 2.544 Mmt and 2.141 Mmt, respectively. The top five exporters accounted for about 97% of the reported world total, leaving only a small share for all other countries in the dataset. As a result, changes in Indonesia's exports have a particularly large effect on the global total.

Where Subbituminous Coal Exports Are Concentrated

Subbituminous coal exports were extremely concentrated in 2024. The top ten exporters accounted for about 99% of the reported world total, leaving less than 1% for all remaining countries. Indonesia overwhelmingly dominated exports, while the Philippines, the United States, South Africa, and the Netherlands formed a much smaller second tier. Regionally, Indonesia was the dominant exporter in Asia, while the United States was the largest exporter in North America and South Africa was among the leading exporters in Africa.

What Changed Most Recently? (2023-2024)

The largest increase between 2023 and 2024 came from South Africa, whose exports rose from 2.191 Mmt to 5.864 Mmt, an increase of 3.673 Mmt. The United States increased by 1.740 Mmt, while Mongolia rose by 1.497 Mmt. The largest decline came from Indonesia, where exports fell from 348.301 Mmt to 329.785 Mmt, a decrease of 18.516 Mmt. Because Indonesia accounts for such a large share of global exports, this decline was the main reason the reported world total fell by about 16.2 Mmt, or about 4.3%, to 365.5 Mmt.

How Have Subbituminous Coal Exports Changed Since 2019?

The reported world total increased from 288.0 Mmt in 2019 to 365.5 Mmt in 2024, despite falling from a recent peak of about 381.7 Mmt in 2023. Indonesia's exports rose from 245.157 Mmt in 2019 to 329.785 Mmt in 2024, reinforcing its already dominant position in the global market. By contrast, the Philippines declined from 10.243 Mmt to 8.370 Mmt over the same period. Other exporters showed more varied trends, including recent increases in the United States and South Africa.

Subbituminous Coal in Context

Subbituminous coal ranks between lignite and bituminous coal and generally has a lower energy content than bituminous coal. Its physical and energy characteristics can influence how it is used and traded, with transport costs and distance often playing an important role in its competitiveness. The EIA reports subbituminous coal separately from other coal types because different coal ranks have distinct characteristics and markets. The concentration shown in the data also means that changes in a small number of exporting countries, particularly Indonesia, can have a substantial effect on the global total.

Subbituminous Coal Exports by Country

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#	Country	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
1	Indonesia	245.16	228.07	254.14	301.25	348.3	329.79
2	Philippines	10.24	7.94	9.33	8.7	8.15	8.37
3	United States	5.87	3.72	5.83	3.94	4.34	6.08
4	South Africa	1.08	0.22	0.18	2.15	2.19	5.86
5	Netherlands	8.37	8.22	11.08	8.53	5.29	4.48
6	Mongolia	0.22	1.19	0.8	1.21	1.05	2.54
7	Kazakhstan	2.68	2.26	2.92	3.13	2.92	2.14
8	India	0.87	0.93	0.83	1.09	1.22	1.68
9	Poland	1.78	1.5	2.74	1.73	1.23	1.45
10	Kyrgyzstan	0.41	0.38	0.3	0.53	0.36	0.77
11	Afghanistan	0.63	0.26	0.72	2.02	0	0.58
12	Australia	2.99	0.6	0.82	0.12	0.55	0.58
13	Malaysia	0.09	0.02	0.14	0.16	0.43	0.37
14	Spain	0.13	0.14	0.03	0.1	0.21	0.32
15	Thailand	0.03	0.03	0.1	0.08	0	0.1
16	Ireland	0.11	0.13	0.12	0.09	0.07	0.09
17	Botswana	0.07	0.08	0.02	0.24	0.16	0.07
18	Russia	0.3	0.11	0.1	0.16	0.29	0.06
19	Türkiye	0	0.01	0.01	0.03	0.03	0.04
20	Canada	0.06	0.09	0.08	0.12	0.03	0.03
21	Vietnam	0	0	0	0	0.01	0.03
22	Colombia	0.01	0	0.01	0.14	0.09	0.02
23	New Zealand	0.01	0.03	0.06	0.05	0.02	0.01
24	Bulgaria	0	0	0	0	0	0.01
25	Belgium	0	0	0	0	0	0.01
26	Latvia	0.01	0	0.01	0.05	0.01	0
27	Peru	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.17	0.16	0.16	0	0	0
29	Ecuador	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	Zimbabwe	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	Egypt	0.03	0.01	0.01	0	0	0
32	South Korea	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	Saudi Arabia	0	0	0	0	0	0
34	Zambia	0.01	0.03	0.01	0	0.01	0
35	Syria	0	0	0	0	0	0
36	Senegal	0	0	0	0	0	0
37	Lebanon	0	0	0	0	0	0
38	Malawi	0	0	0	0	0	0
39	Namibia	0	0	0	0	0	0
40	Switzerland	0	0	0	0	0	0
41	Brazil	0	0	0	0	0	0
42	Argentina	0	0	0	0	0	0
43	Bahrain	0	0	0	0	0	0
44	Barbados	0	0	0	0	0	0
45	Belarus	0.19	0.43	0.27	0	0	0
46	Bhutan	0	0	0	0	0	0
47	Burkina Faso	0	0	0	0	0	0
48	Myanmar	0	0	0	0	0	0
49	China	0	0	0	0	0	0
50	DR Congo	0	0	0	0	0	0
51	Cyprus	0	0	0	0	0	0
52	Denmark	0	0	0	0	0	0
53	Djibouti	0	0	0	0	0	0
54	Dominican Republic	0	0	0	0	0	0
55	Estonia	0	0	0	0	0	0
56	Ethiopia	0	0	0	0	0	0
57	Finland	0	0	0	0	0	0
58	Georgia	0	0	0	0	0	0
59	Ghana	0	0	0	0	0	0
60	Hungary	0	0	0	0	0	0
61	Iceland	0	0	0	0	0	0
62	Iran	0	0	0	0	0	0
63	Israel	0	0	0	0	0	0
64	Japan	0	0	0	0	0	0
65	Jordan	0	0	0	0	0	0
66	Kenya	0	0	0	0	0	0
67	Lesotho	0	0	0	0	0	0
68	Luxembourg	0	0	0	0	0	0
69	Macau	0	0	0	0	0	0
70	Madagascar	0	0	0	0	0	0
71	Mali	0	0	0	0	0	0
72	Malta	0	0	0	0	0	0
73	Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0
74	Morocco	0	0	0	0	0	0
75	Mozambique	6.51	4.68	5.49	4.16	4.62	0
76	North Macedonia	0	0	0	0	0	0
77	Norway	0	0	0	0	0	0
78	Pakistan	0	0	0	0	0	0
79	Panama	0	0	0	0	0	0
80	Paraguay	0	0	0	0	0	0
81	Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	0
82	Qatar	0	0	0	0	0	0
83	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0	0	0	0	0	0
84	Singapore	0	0	0	0	0	0
85	Slovenia	0	0	0	0	0	0
86	Sweden	0	0	0	0.01	0	0
87	Tajikistan	0	0	0	0	0.05	0
88	Uganda	0	0	0	0	0	0
89	Ukraine	0.01	0	0	0.01	0.02	0
90	Venezuela	0	0	0	0	0.05	0

Methodology

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