Rare Earth Elements
A group of 17 metals essential for permanent magnets, wind turbines, electric motors, defense systems, and consumer electronics. China dominates global supply.
Where Rare Earth Elements sits among tracked minerals
Share of global output from the #1 producing country, across all 20 minerals PlainCountries tracks
68.6% 6th of 20 higher than 14 of 20 tracked minerals
Top-producer share of global output, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more tracked minerals. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024 · 2023 data year
Global Production Overview
Production by Country (2023)
| Rank | Country | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 68.6% |
| 2 | United States | 12.3% |
| 3 | Myanmar | 10.9% |
| 4 | Australia | 5.1% |
| 5 | India | 0.8% |
| 6 | Russia | 0.8% |
| 7 | Canada | 0.2% |
| 8 | Brazil | 0.0% |
Click a country name to view its full profile. Production share percentages are calculated from USGS estimated global production.
Nearby Critical Minerals by leader share
Next read: Vanadium · All minerals
Why Rare Earth Elements supply looks concentrated
Rare Earth Elements sits in the high-concentration tercile of this 20-mineral desk, per the concentration figures above. Rare Earth Elements is tagged as a critical mineral in this corpus, governments track production geography because a shortage or export restriction can ripple through clean-energy and defense chains. A group of 17 metals essential for permanent magnets, wind turbines, electric motors, defense systems, and consumer electronics. China dominates global supply. Global mine production in 2023 was about 350,000 (metric tons (REO content)). 8 countries appear in the table below.
USGS does not publish a single net-import-reliance percentage for Rare Earth Elements in this release; use the country production table and the linked country profiles for exposure context. Top-five share is 98% (China, United States, Myanmar, Australia, India). On a high-concentration mineral, an outage or export curb in the leader moves availability faster than on a diffuse desk.
Next comparable critical mineral on this desk by leader-share distance: Vanadium (~70% leader share). Cite USGS MCS 2024 (data year 2023) when you reuse any figure, we do not impute missing rows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which country produces the most Rare Earth Elements?
China is the world's leading producer of Rare Earth Elements, accounting for approximately 69% of global mine production in 2023.
How is Rare Earth Elements used?
A group of 17 metals essential for permanent magnets, wind turbines, electric motors, defense systems, and consumer electronics. China dominates global supply.
What is global Rare Earth Elements production?
Global mine production of Rare Earth Elements was approximately 350,000 in 2023, measured in metric tons (REO content).
How reliant is the US on imported Rare Earth Elements?
US import reliance data for Rare Earth Elements is not published as a single percentage in this release. Refer to the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries for current estimates.
Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024 (U.S. Geological Survey, National Minerals Information Center). Source: USGS National Minerals Information Center, data year 2023. Values are USGS estimates and may include revisions. US import reliance data from USGS.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.