Charts / Energy
One Country Mines Three-Quarters of the World's Cobalt
The Democratic Republic of Congo alone accounts for roughly 76% of global cobalt mine output.
Updated 2026 · Data year 2024
Figure 1
The Democratic Republic of Congo alone accounts for roughly 76% of global cobalt mine output.
75.9%
DR Congo · %
Source: USGS · 2024 · Share of 2024 world cobalt mine production (290,000 t cobalt content). Top six producers plus rest of world.
The DR Congo mined about 220,000 tonnes of cobalt in 2024, roughly 76% of the 290,000-tonne world total. Indonesia is now a distant second at around 28,000 tonnes (9.7%), having grown rapidly as a by-product of its nickel boom. No other country reaches even 4% of global supply.
Takeaways
- DR Congo mined about 220,000 t of cobalt in 2024, near 76% of the world total.
- Indonesia is second at roughly 28,000 t, about 9.7% of global output.
- Russia (3.0%), Canada (1.6%) and the Philippines (1.3%) trail far behind.
- World cobalt mine production totalled around 290,000 t in 2024.
- The top two producers alone supplied about 86% of all cobalt mined.
Countries in this chart
Sources
- TIER A USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025: Cobalt (2025). https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2025/mcs2025-cobalt.pdf
Mine production table; shares computed from 2024 figures.