Commodity Origins

What does Laos produce and export?

Laos ranks in the top ten producers of 5 commodities: bismuth (#4, 3.1% of world output in 2025), cardamom (#4, 4.9% of world output in 2024), potash (#6, 4.9% of world output in 2025), barite (#7, 3% of world output in 2025), natural rubber (#10, 2.4% of world output in 2024). It is a top-ten exporter of cassava (#3, 12% of world export value in 2024), barite (#4, 11% of world export value in 2024), potash (#6, 4.1% of world export value in 2024), bauxite (#8, 0.9% of world export value in 2024), natural rubber (#8, 2.4% of world export value in 2024).

Where laos is produced, 2025World map shaded by share of laos production in 2025. Darkest: Laos 100%. 1 producing countries shown.Fiji: no reported productionTanzania: no reported productionWestern Sahara: no reported productionCanada: no reported productionUnited States: no reported productionKazakhstan: no reported productionUzbekistan: no reported productionPapua New Guinea: no reported productionIndonesia: no reported productionArgentina: no reported productionChile: no reported productionDR Congo: no reported productionSomalia: no reported productionKenya: no reported productionSudan: no reported productionChad: no reported productionHaiti: no reported productionDominican Republic: no reported productionRussia: no reported productionBahamas: no reported productionFalkland Isds (Malvinas): no reported productionNorway: no reported productionGreenland: no reported productionFr. South Antarctic Terr.: no reported productionTimor-Leste: no reported productionSouth Africa: no reported productionLesotho: no reported productionMexico: no reported productionUruguay: no reported productionBrazil: no reported productionBolivia: no reported productionPeru: no reported productionColombia: no reported productionPanama: no reported productionCosta Rica: no reported productionNicaragua: no reported productionHonduras: no reported productionEl Salvador: no reported productionGuatemala: no reported productionBelize: no reported productionVenezuela: no reported productionGuyana: no reported productionSuriname: no reported productionFrance: no reported productionEcuador: no reported productionPuerto Rico: no reported productionJamaica: no reported productionCuba: no reported productionZimbabwe: no reported productionBotswana: no reported productionNamibia: no reported productionSenegal: no reported productionMali: no reported productionMauritania: no reported productionBenin: no reported productionNiger: no reported productionNigeria: no reported productionCameroon: no reported productionTogo: no reported productionGhana: no reported productionIvory Coast: no reported productionGuinea: no reported productionGuinea-Bissau: no reported productionLiberia: no reported productionSierra Leone: no reported productionBurkina Faso: no reported productionCentral African Republic: no reported productionRepublic of the Congo: no reported productionGabon: no reported productionEquatorial Guinea: no reported productionZambia: no reported productionMalawi: no reported productionMozambique: no reported productionEswatini: no reported productionAngola: no reported productionBurundi: no reported productionIsrael: no reported productionLebanon: no reported productionMadagascar: no reported productionPalestine: no reported productionGambia: no reported productionTunisia: no reported productionAlgeria: no reported productionJordan: no reported productionUnited Arab Emirates: no reported productionQatar: no reported productionKuwait: no reported productionIraq: no reported productionOman: no reported productionVanuatu: no reported productionCambodia: no reported productionThailand: no reported productionLaos: 100% (1)Myanmar: no reported productionVietnam: no reported productionNorth Korea: no reported productionSouth Korea: no reported productionMongolia: no reported productionIndia: no reported productionBangladesh: no reported productionBhutan: no reported productionNepal: no reported productionPakistan: no reported productionAfghanistan: no reported productionTajikistan: no reported productionKyrgyzstan: no reported productionTurkmenistan: no reported productionIran: no reported productionSyria: no reported productionArmenia: no reported productionSweden: no reported productionBelarus: no reported productionUkraine: no reported productionPoland: no reported productionAustria: no reported productionHungary: no reported productionMoldova: no reported productionRomania: no reported productionLithuania: no reported productionLatvia: no reported productionEstonia: no reported productionGermany: no reported productionBulgaria: no reported productionGreece: no reported productionTurkey: no reported productionAlbania: no reported productionCroatia: no reported productionSwitzerland: no reported productionLuxembourg: no reported productionBelgium: no reported productionNetherlands: no reported productionPortugal: no reported productionSpain: no reported productionIreland: no reported productionNew Caledonia: no reported productionSolomon Islands: no reported productionNew Zealand: no reported productionAustralia: no reported productionSri Lanka: no reported productionChina: no reported productionTaiwan: no reported productionItaly: no reported productionDenmark: no reported productionUnited Kingdom: no reported productionIceland: no reported productionAzerbaijan: no reported productionGeorgia: no reported productionPhilippines: no reported productionMalaysia: no reported productionBrunei: no reported productionSlovenia: no reported productionFinland: no reported productionSlovakia: no reported productionCzechia: no reported productionEritrea: no reported productionJapan: no reported productionParaguay: no reported productionYemen: no reported productionSaudi Arabia: no reported productionAntarcticaN. CyprusCyprus: no reported productionMorocco: no reported productionEgypt: no reported productionLibya: no reported productionEthiopia: no reported productionDjibouti: no reported productionSomalilandUganda: no reported productionRwanda: no reported productionBosnia and Herzegovina: no reported productionNorth Macedonia: no reported productionSerbia: no reported productionMontenegro: no reported productionKosovoTrinidad and Tobago: no reported productionSouth Sudan: no reported production<0.5%0.5–1%1–2.5%2.5–5%5–10%10–20%≥20%
Share of world production, 2025. Countries with no reported production are unshaded.

What does Laos produce?

Commodities where Laos is a top-ten producer
CommodityWorld rankShare of worldProductionYearSource
Bismuth Metals43.1%500 t2025USGS MCS
Cardamom Softs44.9%9,600 t2024FAOSTAT
Potash Fertilizers64.9%2.4 million t2025USGS MCS
Barite Metals73%260,000 t2025USGS MCS
Natural rubber Fibres & other raw materials102.4%350,300 t2024FAOSTAT

What does Laos export?

Top 5 Laos commodity exports, 2024Bar chart of top 5 Laos commodity exports in 2024: Potash 4.1%, Cassava 12%, Natural rubber 2.4%, Bauxite 0.9%, Barite 11%; rest of world 70%.PotashPotash: 4.1%, $825.6 million4.1%CassavaCassava: 12%, $399.8 million12%Natural rubberNatural rubber: 2.4%, $398.4 million2.4%BauxiteBauxite: 0.9%, $107 million0.9%BariteBarite: 11%, $101.8 million11%Rest of worldRest of world: 70%, $070%
Laos's largest commodity exports by value. Each bar's share is that commodity's share of world trade in it, not its share of Laos's own exports — the two are unrelated and shown so a bar near 100% marks a commodity Laos dominates globally rather than one it merely exports a lot of.
Top 5 Laos commodity exports in 2024
RankCommodityExport value (US$)Share of world
1Potash$825.6 million4.1%
2Cassava$399.8 million12%
3Natural rubber$398.4 million2.4%
4Bauxite$107 million0.9%
5Barite$101.8 million11%
Rest of world$070%

Laos's own tracked-export mix

Unlike the chart above, this treemap sizes each commodity by its share of Laos's own $3 billion of tracked exports, not by world trade. Potash alone is 27% of it. See the full export dependency report for how Laos compares with other countries.

Laos's tracked export mix by commodityPotash: 27.4%; Iron ore: 15.9%; Copper: 15.8%; Other tracked commodities: 14.5%; Cassava: 13.3%; Natural rubber: 13.2%.Potash: 27.4%Potash27.4%Iron ore: 15.9%Iron ore15.9%Copper: 15.8%Copper15.8%Other tracked commodities: 14.5%Other tracked co…14.5%Cassava: 13.3%Cassava13.3%Natural rubber: 13.2%Natural rubber13.2%
Commodities where Laos is a top-ten exporter
CommodityWorld rankShare of world exportsExport valueYear
Cassava312%$399.8 million2024
Barite411%$101.8 million2024
Potash64.1%$825.6 million2024
Bauxite80.9%$107 million2024
Natural rubber82.4%$398.4 million2024

Sources: FAOSTAT (crops and livestock), USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries (minerals), Energy Institute Statistical Review (energy) for production; CEPII BACI for trade. Ranks count only the commodities on this site.

Laos commodity by commodity

One page for each commodity where Laos is a top-five producer or exporter with at least 3% of the world total.

Laos in the pattern reports

What the cross-commodity reports under Patterns say about Laos, computed from the same data as this page.

What Laos uses

Laos had about 7.7 million people and a food supply of 3,188 kilocalories per person a day in FAO's 2023 food balance sheets. Its eight largest supplies among the commodities tracked there:

Largest domestic supplies of tracked commodities in Laos, 2023
CommodityDomestic supplyShare of worldkg per personSelf-sufficiencyImported
Rice4.0 million tonnes0.5%225 (#6 of 141)99%2.6%
Cassava2.0 million tonnes0.6%176 (#7 of 112)187%6.3%
Bananas791 thousand tonnes0.6%97 (#2 of 140)109%<0.1%
Corn279 thousand tonnes<0.1%4.7 (#98 of 140)157%1.7%
Coffee183 thousand tonnes1.5%23 (#2 of 135)100%19%
Sugar130 thousand tonnes0.1%12 (#115 of 143)187%518%
Oranges116 thousand tonnes0.1%14 (#59 of 140)70%30%
Pork105 thousand tonnes0.1%14 (#54 of 141)99%1%

FAO reports a negative domestic supply for Laos's plantains (−635 thousand tonnes; production 0 tonnes, imports 0 tonnes, exports 635 thousand tonnes), meaning exports exceed production plus imports in the year. These are not counted as use and are left out of the table above.

FAOSTAT Food Balance Sheets. Per-person rank counts countries of at least 1 million people. See consumption and self-sufficiency.

How long Laos's own reserves would last

USGS national reserve figures, rounded. A short national figure usually reflects how little has been proved up, not when mining stops. See country reserve life.

Downloads and citation

This country's rankings as JSON · PDF summary. Cite as: Commodity Origins, "What does Laos produce and export?", https://commodityorigins.com/countries/LAO/ (CC BY 4.0).

Data updated 22 October 2026.

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