Critical minerals report 2026
43 commodities on this site appear on the US 2025 or EU 2024 critical-mineral lists, 29 of them on both. For the 39 with a production figure, one country produces half or more of the world's supply of 19, and China is the largest producer of 18. Counting only reserves USGS prints as a number, the shortest reserve lives at the latest output are zinc (18 years), lead (21 years), silver (23 years), but reserve life is a ratio, not a date. Output is at or within a year of its record for 11 of them, and on the EU's customs-based view one origin supplies more than 65% of imports for 9.
Key findings
- Concentration. The largest producer's share of world output runs from 19% (feldspar) to 99% (gallium). 19 of 39 have a producer at 50% or more.
- Reserves. For 15 of them USGS's reserve figure can be compared with its 2023 edition: it is higher in 11 even after three years of mining, which is why years of reserves are not a countdown (how much is left).
- Output. 11 of 17 materials with a long record are at or within a year of their highest output (peak production).
- Prices. In constant 1998 dollars the latest ten years' price is below the first ten years' for 10 minerals and above it for 10 (a century of real prices).
- Supplier exposure. The largest single origin supplies more than 65% of EU imports by value on 9 lines (antimony, bismuth, boron, feldspar, lithium, magnesium, niobium, rare earths, uranium); this is customs data on one product line per mineral, not the EU Act's consumption test (supplier exposure).
Every listed mineral at a glance
| Mineral | Lists | Largest producer | Years of reserves | Output peak | Real price vs first decade | EU's largest supplier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminum | US and EU | China 61% | — | — | 0.11× (89% lower) | Norway 24% |
| Antimony | US and EU | China 36% | ≥ 22 | — | 1.67× (1.7× higher) | Turkey (Türkiye) 86% ▲ |
| Arsenic | US and EU | Peru 49% | — | — | — | — |
| Barite | US and EU | India 34% | 46 | — | 1.09× (1.1× higher) | China 45% |
| Bauxite | US and EU | Guinea 34% | 66 | — | — | Guinea 63% |
| Beryllium | US and EU | United States 53% | — | — | — | — |
| Bismuth | US and EU | China 86% | — | — | — | China 95% ▲ |
| Boron | US and EU | — | — | — | — | Turkey (Türkiye) 92% ▲ |
| Chromium | US | South Africa 45% | ≥ 24 | — | 1.85× (1.8× higher) | South Africa 50% |
| Cobalt | US and EU | DR Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) 74% | 39 | 2025 | 0.28× (72% lower) | United States 24% |
| Copper | US and EU | Chile 23% | 43 | 2024 | 0.75× (25% lower) | Brazil 30% |
| Feldspar | EU | India 19% | — | — | — | Turkey (Türkiye) 88% ▲ |
| Fluorspar | US and EU | China 60% | 33 | 2024 | — | South Africa 50% |
| Gallium | US and EU | China 99% | — | — | — | — |
| Graphite | US and EU | China 78% | 172 | 2025 | 0.58× (42% lower) | China 37% |
| Helium | EU | United States 43% | — | — | — | — |
| Indium | US | China 69% | — | — | — | — |
| Iridium | US and EU | — | — | — | — | United Kingdom 37% |
| Lead | US | China 42% | 21 | 2012 | 0.83× (17% lower) | United Kingdom 52% |
| Lithium | US and EU | Australia 32% | 128 | 2025 | — | Chile 80% ▲ |
| Magnesium | US and EU | China 86% | — | — | — | China 83% ▲ |
| Manganese | US and EU | South Africa 38% | 90 | 2019 | 1.46× (1.5× higher) | South Africa 56% |
| Nickel | US and EU | Indonesia 67% | ≥ 36 | 2025 | 0.59× (41% lower) | Norway 37% |
| Niobium | US and EU | Brazil 93% | ≥ 191 | 2024 | — | Brazil 83% ▲ |
| Palladium | US and EU | Russia 44% | ≥ 211 | — | 1.52× (1.5× higher) | United Kingdom 25% |
| Phosphate rock | US and EU | China 44% | 292 | 2016 | 0.79× (21% lower) | Morocco 29% |
| Platinum | US and EU | South Africa 71% | ≥ 211 | — | 1.52× (1.5× higher) | South Africa 41% |
| Potash | US | Canada 31% | ≥ 121 | 2025 | 0.28× (72% lower) | Canada 34% |
| Rare earths | US and EU | China 69% | ≥ 193 | 2025 | 2.25× (2.3× higher) | China 87% ▲ |
| Rhenium | US | Chile 37% | — | — | — | — |
| Rhodium | US and EU | — | — | — | — | South Africa 50% |
| Silicon | US and EU | China 87% | — | — | — | Norway 43% |
| Silver | US | Mexico 24% | 23 | 2016 | 1.24× (1.2× higher) | Switzerland 37% |
| Strontium | EU | Iran 56% | — | — | — | — |
| Tantalum | US and EU | DR Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) 52% | — | — | — | — |
| Tellurium | US | China 80% | — | — | — | — |
| Tin | US | China 24% | ≥ 21 | 2017 | 1.22× (1.2× higher) | Bolivia 31% |
| Titanium | US and EU | China 34% | 53 | — | — | South Africa 49% |
| Tungsten | US and EU | China 79% | ≥ 55 | 2025 | 2.24× (2.2× higher) | Bolivia 49% |
| Uranium | US | — | — | — | — | Namibia 91% ▲ |
| Vanadium | US and EU | China 72% | 189 | 2024 | 0.73× (27% lower) | South Korea 43% |
| Zinc | US | China 32% | 18 | 2016 | 0.84× (16% lower) | Norway 46% |
| Zirconium | US | Australia 33% | — | — | — | South Africa 31% |
▲ marks a largest-origin share of EU imports above 65%. Production and reserves: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (uranium has no production figure here: its series is nuclear generation). Years of reserves are reserves divided by the latest year's production; ≥ marks reserves USGS prints as "more than". Peak is the year of highest world output in the record held (back to 1900 for many minerals, 1965 for oil). Real price: USGS unit values in constant 1998 dollars, latest ten years against the first ten. EU supplier: CEPII BACI imports by value on each mineral's primary customs line.
Who produces the most
What the numbers cannot tell you
- A list is not a forecast of shortage. Being listed means a government sees supply risk; it says nothing about geological scarcity.
- Reserves are a working inventory. They rise with discovery, technology and price and are re-estimated by USGS, sometimes sharply. A reserve life is a ratio, not the date anything runs out.
- Supplier exposure is not the Act's test. It uses imports by value on one customs line, so it leaves out domestic output, recycling and stocks, and shows where goods were shipped from, which can be a trader or processor.
- Prices are US unit values in USGS's unit for each mineral: compare a mineral with its own past, not with another mineral.
Sources and method
US 2025 list: Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals, Federal Register notice 2025-19813 (90 FR 50494), 7 November 2025. EU 2024 list: Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 of 11 April 2024 establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials: Annex I (strategic) and Annex II (critical). Production, reserves and histories: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2022 to 2026 and Data Series 140. Trade: CEPII BACI. Every figure is computed on this site from those sources; the methods are on the pages linked above and in methodology. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Not investment advice.