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Lithium comes from a very short list of places. In 2025 Australia mined about 32 percent of the world's supply, China about 21 percent, Chile about 19 percent, Zimbabwe about 10 percent and Argentina about 8 percent. Tap any material below to see who actually produces it.

By Team Geography Last reviewed

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17 materials, every figure sourced

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Where does lithium come from?

Australia, China, Chile, Zimbabwe and Argentina, in that order, account for the overwhelming majority of world lithium mine production. They get there by two completely different routes. Australia and Zimbabwe dig hard rock: spodumene ore, crushed and shipped, mostly to China for processing. Chile and Argentina pump brine from beneath high altitude salt flats in the Atacama and the Puna, then let the sun evaporate it for a year or more. China does both, and refines a large share of everyone else's output as well. Where the rock is and where the chemical plant is are two different maps, which is why "where lithium comes from" has two honest answers. The longer version is in where lithium comes from.

Where chocolate and coffee come from

Cocoa is the most concentrated crop on this page. Côte d'Ivoire alone grows well over a third of the world's cocoa beans, and with Ghana, Ecuador, Nigeria and Cameroon the top five cover roughly three quarters of it. Almost none of it is eaten where it is grown. Coffee is nearly as lopsided: Brazil supplies close to two fifths of world production and Vietnam most of the robusta that goes into instant coffee. Both crops sit in a narrow tropical band, and both are exposed to a single bad season in a single country. The longer version of coffee's story, from its wild origin in Ethiopia to today's harvest, is in where coffee comes from.

Why concentration is the point

Read the panels one after another and a pattern appears. The Democratic Republic of the Congo mines about three quarters of the world's cobalt. Indonesia mines about two thirds of its nickel. China refines most of the world's rare earths and mines about seven tenths of them. Kazakhstan pulls up nearly two fifths of its uranium. These are not diversified global markets. They are single points of failure with flags on them, and that is what makes a shipping lane like the Suez Canal or the Panama Canal a political object rather than a piece of infrastructure.

The same logic explains why one island keeps appearing in the news about semiconductors. Taiwan holds roughly a sixth of the world's installed wafer capacity and a far larger share of the leading edge: see why Taiwan is so important.

How to read the numbers

Every panel shows the share of world production, the year, and the source. Shares are of mine or farm production, not of refining, processing or exports, which are often distributed very differently. Mineral figures come from the United States Geological Survey Mineral Commodity Summaries, February 2026 edition, which reports 2025 estimates. Agricultural figures come from USDA Foreign Agricultural Service circulars and the International Cocoa Organization. Energy figures come from the US Energy Information Administration. Where the most recent complete dataset is older, as with rough diamonds, the panel says which year it is showing.

Common questions

Where does lithium come from?
Mostly from five countries. In 2025 Australia produced about 32 percent of world lithium mine output, China about 21 percent, Chile about 19 percent, Zimbabwe about 10 percent and Argentina about 8 percent. Australia and Zimbabwe mine hard rock; Chile and Argentina pump brine from salt flats.
Which country produces the most cobalt?
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, by a very wide margin: about 74 percent of world mine production in 2025. Indonesia is second at roughly 14 percent and rising fast, because cobalt is a by product of its nickel industry. No other country reaches 3 percent.
Where does chocolate come from?
Cocoa beans, and mostly from West Africa. Cote d'Ivoire grows about 38 percent of the world crop and Ghana about 12 percent, with Ecuador, Nigeria and Cameroon behind them. Together those five account for roughly three quarters of global production.
Where does coffee come from?
Brazil is by far the largest producer, at roughly 38 percent of world output, followed by Vietnam at about 17 percent. Colombia, Ethiopia and Indonesia each supply 6 to 7 percent. Brazil dominates arabica; Vietnam dominates the robusta used in instant coffee.
Which country controls rare earths?
China mines about 69 percent of world rare earth oxide production and refines a much larger share still. The United States is second at roughly 13 percent and Australia third at about 7 percent. Mining is only half the story: separation and refining are more concentrated than extraction.
Are these production figures the same as reserves?
No. Production is what came out of the ground or the field in a given year. Reserves are what is known to be economically recoverable, and the two rankings often disagree: Chile and Bolivia hold enormous lithium resources while producing far less of it than Australia does.
How often is this data updated?
Each panel names its own source and year. Mineral figures follow the annual USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries, published each February. Crop figures follow USDA circulars, which are revised through the marketing year. This page was last reviewed on 12 September 2026.
Why does it matter where things come from?
Because concentration is risk. When one country supplies three quarters of a material, a strike, a flood or an export ban there becomes everyone's problem. Tracing an object back to the ground it came out of is the quickest way to see how connected the world actually is.

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