{"slug":"helium","name":"Helium","aliases":["He","helium gas"],"category":"metals","subcategory":"industrial-minerals","tier":3,"what_is_it":"An inert gas recovered mainly from natural gas and used to cool magnets in scanners, in leak detection, in semiconductor manufacturing and for lifting and welding.","unit_display":"million cubic meters (helium)","wikidata":"Q560","related":["natural-gas","uranium","copper"],"exchanges":[],"industry_body":{"name":"US Geological Survey National Minerals Information Center","url":"https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center/helium-and-rare-gases-statistics-and-information"},"hs":[],"trade_form":null,"processing_note":"Helium is a by-product of processing natural gas from fields that contain it: it is separated as crude helium, then purified, and for some uses liquefied, so its supply depends on gas processing plants.","production_note":null,"sources":{"usgs_mcs":{"id":"usgs_mcs","name":"USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries","short":"USGS MCS","url":"https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center/mineral-commodity-summaries","license":"Public domain (US Government work)","license_url":"https://www.usgs.gov/information-policies-and-instructions/copyrights-and-credits","citation":"U.S. Geological Survey, {year}, Mineral Commodity Summaries {year}: U.S. Geological Survey. Data release https://doi.org/10.5066/P13XCP3R","redistribution":"full","vintage":"MCS 2026","fetched_at":"2026-10-08T06:37:07.348540+00:00"}},"production":{"items":[{"item_code":"Helium Production","item":"Helium production","primary":true,"unit":"million cubic meters","year":2025,"world":190.0,"world_basis":"reported","rest_of_world":5.0,"top5_share":94.21052631578947,"n_countries":7,"top":[{"iso3":"USA","name":"United States","value":81.0,"share":42.63157894736842,"rank":1,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"QAT","name":"Qatar","value":63.0,"share":33.1578947368421,"rank":2,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"RUS","name":"Russia","value":18.0,"share":9.473684210526317,"rank":3,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"DZA","name":"Algeria","value":11.0,"share":5.7894736842105265,"rank":4,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"CAN","name":"Canada","value":6.0,"share":3.1578947368421053,"rank":5,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"CHN","name":"China","value":3.0,"share":1.5789473684210527,"rank":6,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null},{"iso3":"POL","name":"Poland","value":3.0,"share":1.5789473684210527,"rank":7,"flag":"","cagr_10y":null}],"years":[2024,2025],"series":{"USA":{"2024":80.0,"2025":81.0},"QAT":{"2024":64.0,"2025":63.0},"RUS":{"2024":17.0,"2025":18.0},"DZA":{"2024":11.0,"2025":11.0},"CAN":{"2024":6.0,"2025":6.0},"CHN":{"2024":3.0,"2025":3.0},"POL":{"2024":3.0,"2025":3.0}},"world_series":{"2024":184.0,"2025":190.0},"source_id":"usgs_mcs","vintage":"MCS 2026","flag_counts":{"":7}}]},"reserves":{"year":2025,"world_lower_bound":false,"world_is_sum":true,"unit":"million cubic meters","statistic":"Helium Reserves","world":12424.0,"top":[{"iso3":"USA","name":"United States","value":8500.0,"share":68.41596909207985},{"iso3":"DZA","name":"Algeria","value":1800.0,"share":14.488087572440438},{"iso3":"RUS","name":"Russia","value":1700.0,"share":13.68319381841597},{"iso3":"ZAF","name":"South Africa","value":400.0,"share":3.2195750160978753},{"iso3":"POL","name":"Poland","value":24.0,"share":0.19317450096587252}],"source_id":"usgs_mcs","vintage":"MCS 2026"},"trade":{"tables":[]},"prices":{"series":[]}}