Rare earths: who produces it, who holds it
Mine production by country, 2025, and reserves, from USGS (Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026)). Shares, ranks and concentration are computed from those rows.
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Concentration of mine production: How this is computedSum of the squares of each producer’s share of world output (0–1).Method →Code → on the Herfindahl index over the countries listed individually (a single supplier would score one).
| Country | Mine production, 2025 (tonnes) | 2024 | Share · rank | Reserves (tonnes) | Share · rank | Export restrictions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths (2025)SourcedUSGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths · 2025Open the source → | 270,000 | How this is computedA place's annual production ÷ the published world total, same unit and year.Method →Code → How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | 44,000,000 | How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | 1 |
| United States | Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths (2025)SourcedUSGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths · 2025Open the source → | 45,500 | How this is computedA place's annual production ÷ the published world total, same unit and year.Method →Code → How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | 1,900,000 | How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | — |
| Australia | Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths (2025)SourcedUSGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths · 2025Open the source → | 29,000 | How this is computedA place's annual production ÷ the published world total, same unit and year.Method →Code → How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | 6,300,000 | How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | — |
| Burma | Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths (2025)SourcedUSGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths · 2025Open the source → | 27,000 | How this is computedA place's annual production ÷ the published world total, same unit and year.Method →Code → How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | not available | — | 8 |
| Thailand | Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths (2025)SourcedUSGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths · 2025Open the source → | 2,100 | How this is computedA place's annual production ÷ the published world total, same unit and year.Method →Code → How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | not available | — | — |
| India | Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths (2025)SourcedUSGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths · 2025Open the source → | 2,900 | How this is computedA place's annual production ÷ the published world total, same unit and year.Method →Code → How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | not available | — | 2 |
| Madagascar | Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths (2025)SourcedUSGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths · 2025Open the source → | 1,400 | How this is computedA place's annual production ÷ the published world total, same unit and year.Method →Code → How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | not available | — | 2 |
| Russia | Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths (2025)SourcedUSGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths · 2025Open the source → | 2,600 | How this is computedA place's annual production ÷ the published world total, same unit and year.Method →Code → How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | 3,800,000 | How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | 1 |
| Brazil | Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths (2025)SourcedUSGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths · 2025Open the source → | 560 | How this is computedA place's annual production ÷ the published world total, same unit and year.Method →Code → How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | 11,000,000 | How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | 1 |
| Nigeria | Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths (2025)SourcedUSGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths · 2025Open the source → | 1,500 | How this is computedA place's annual production ÷ the published world total, same unit and year.Method →Code → How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | not available | — | — |
| Vietnam | Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths (2025)SourcedUSGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths · 2025Open the source → | 300 | How this is computedA place's annual production ÷ the published world total, same unit and year.Method →Code → How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | 3,500,000 | How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | — |
| Malaysia | Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths (2025)SourcedUSGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths · 2025Open the source → | 140 | How this is computedA place's annual production ÷ the published world total, same unit and year.Method →Code → How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | 710,000 | How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | — |
| Greenland | none | none | — | 1,500,000 | How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | — |
| Tanzania | none | none | — | 890,000 | How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | — |
| South Africa | none | none | — | 860,000 | How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | — |
| Canada | none | none | — | 830,000 | How this is computedPosition of a country when the countries USGS lists individually are sorted by the same column, largest first; equal values share a rank.Method →Code → | — |
World total 2025: 390,000 tonnes; reserves: more than 75,000,000 tonnes. Countries USGS or EIA fold into “other countries” are not listed or ranked. USGS reserves: the part of an identified resource that could be economically extracted or produced at the time of determination (MCS Appendix C). Roughly proved + probable; not the broader resource. USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (February 2026): Rare earths, table “World Mine Production and Reserves”, read 2026-09-25.
Export restrictions on rare earths
OECD Inventory of Export Restrictions on Critical Raw Materials (2024 data). About 80 exporting countries. A country or resource with no row is not recorded in the inventory, which is not the same as unrestricted. OECD Data Explorer ↗
- China
- Licensing requirement on metal, chemical since 2024-01-01, until 2024-12-31 Announcement No.65, 2023 of the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China ↗
- Myanmar
- Licensing requirement on metal since 2012-09-07 Export Import Law ↗
- Licensing requirement on chemical since 2012-09-07 Export Import Law ↗
- Licensing requirement on chemical since 2012-09-07 Export Import Law ↗
- Other export measures on metal, chemical since 2024-12-27, until 2025-01-25 Notification No.90/2024 concerning the announcement to levy taxes based on weekly foreign exchange rate ↗
- Other export measures on metal, chemical since 2023-12-06, until 2024-12-27 Notification No.26/2023 concerning the amendment of the export earnings exchanged to Myanmar kyats ↗
- Other export measures on metal since 2016-06-20 Pesticide Law 2016 ↗
- Other export measures on chemical since 2016-06-20 Pesticide Law 2016 ↗
- Other export measures on chemical since 2016-06-20 Pesticide Law 2016 ↗
- Brazil
- Licensing requirement on metal since 2009-01-01 Resolution ↗
- Madagascar
- Licensing requirement on metal, chemical since 2005-10-17 Law No 99-022 dated 19 August 1999, as amended by Law No 2005-021 dated 17 October 2005, and Decree No 2006-910 dated 19 December 2006 ↗
- Other export measures on metal, chemical since 2006-08-19 DECRET N° 2006-910 du 19 août 2006 portant application du Code minier ↗
- Russia
- Export tax on metal since 2023-10-01, until 2024-12-31 On the rates of export customs duties on goods exported from the Russian Federation outside the customs territory of the Eurasian Economic Union, and on amendments to the rates of export customs duties on goods exported from the Russian Federation outside the customs territory of the Eurasian Economic Union ↗
- India
- Other export measures 25% on metal since 2015-07-20 Corrigendum No. 03 RMC/Dynamic Pricing Policy/2015/0 ↗
- Other export measures 20% on metal since 2013-04-01 Corrigendum No. 03 RMC/Dynamic Pricing Policy/2015/0 ↗