This is a list of countries by mined iron ore production in 2024 based on U.S. Geological Survey data. [1] "Usable iron ore" figures refer to the processed ore product suitable for steelmaking, not the raw extracted material. As such, countries with lower-grade ores like China extensively beneficiate magnetite ores (typically <30% Fe) to produce market-grade material (~60% Fe), making their usable ore output appear comparable to high-grade producers like Australia or Brazil. However, the efficiency, cost, and environmental impact of such beneficiation vary significantly. [2]
Contents
| Country | Production (thousand tonnes) [3] | Reserves (million tonnes) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usable iron ore | Pig iron [4] | Iron content | Crude ore | Iron content | |
| World | 2,500,000 | ≈ 1,366,000 | 1,600,000 | 200,000 | 88,000 |
 Australia | 930,000 | 3,700 | 580,000 | 58,000 | 27,000 |
 Brazil | 440,000 | 25,700 | 280,000 | 34,000 | 15,000 |
 China | 270,000 | 871,000 | 170,000 | 20,000 | 6,900 |
 India | 270,000 | 86,300 | 170,000 | 5,500 | 3,400 |
 Russia | 91,000 | 54,600 | 53,000 | 35,000 | 14,000 |
 Iran | 90,000 | 36,400 | 59,000 | 3,800 | 1,500 |
 South Africa | 66,000 | 2,600 | 42,000 | 930 | 590 |
 Japan | – | 63,000 | – | – | – |
 Canada | 54,000 | 7,300 | 32,000 | 6,000 | 2,3000 |
 United States | 48,000 | 20,600 | 30,000 | 3,600 | 2,300 |
 Ukraine | 42,000 | – | 26,000 | 6,500 | 2,300 |
 Kazakhstan | 30,000 | – | 9,200 | 2,500 | 900 |
 Sweden | 28,000 | 2,900 | 20,000 | 1,300 | 600 |
 Peru | 21,000 | – | 14,000 | 2,600 | 1,500 |
 Chile | 18,000 | 581 | 11,000 | – | – |
 Turkey | 18,000 | 9,100 | 11,000 | 150 | 99 |
 Mauritania | 15,000 | – | 9,400 | – | – |
| Rest of world | ≈ 13,450 | – | 37,000 | 17,000 | 8,500 |
 Taiwan | – | 13,400 | – | – | – |
 France | – | 8,200 | – | – | – |
 Mexico | 8,000 | 8,428 | 5,000 | – | – |
 Mongolia | 7,660 | – | – | – | – |
 Saudi Arabia | – | 6,700 | – | – | – |
 Netherlands | – | 5,500 | – | – | – |
 Liberia | 5,000 | – | – | – | – |
 United Kingdom | – | 4,779 | – | – | – |
 Malaysia | 4,912 | 800 | – | – | – |
 Sierra Leone | 4,370 | – | – | – | – |
 New Zealand | 4,000 | 600 | – | – | – |
 Slovakia | – | 4,000 | – | – | – |
 Indonesia | 3,500 | 3,000 | – | – | – |
 Italy | – | 3,500 | – | – | – |
 Argentina | – | 3,494 | – | – | – |
 Czech Republic | – | 3,400 | – | – | – |
 Spain | – | 3,400 | – | – | – |
 Austria | 3,237 | 5,800 | – | – | – |
 Poland | – | 3,089 | – | – | – |
 North Korea | 3,000 | 150 | – | – | – |
 Finland | – | 1,900 | – | – | – |
 Vietnam | 1,843 | 10,000 | – | – | – |
 Norway | 1,800 | 70 | – | – | – |
 Oman | – | 1,800 | – | – | – |
 Laos | 1,795 | – | – | – | – |
 Trinidad and Tobago | – | 1,700 | – | – | – |
 Qatar | – | 1,600 | – | – | – |
 Bahrain | – | 1,500 | – | – | – |
 Romania | – | 1,500 | – | – | – |
 Serbia | – | 1,500 | – | – | – |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1,286 | 757 | – | – | – |
 Libya | – | 1,100 | – | – | – |
 Venezuela | 1,000 | 277 | – | – | – |
 Albania | – | 809 | – | – | – |
 Algeria | 750 | 3,900 | – | – | – |
 Pakistan | 617 | – | – | – | – |
 Hungary | – | 500 | – | – | – |
 Colombia | 498 | 213 | – | – | – |
 Germany | 470 | 23,600 | – | – | – |
 South Korea | 434 | 45,200 | – | – | – |
 Bolivia | 372 | – | – | – | – |
 Guinea | 304 | – | – | – | – |
 Tunisia | 260 | – | – | – | – |
 Thailand | 190 | – | – | – | – |
 Uganda | 103 | – | – | – | – |
 Philippines | 75.77 | – | – | – | – |
 Morocco | 50.00 | – | – | – | – |
 Paraguay | – | 40 | – | – | – |
 Egypt | 12.00 | 6,000 | – | – | – |
 Nigeria | 5.00 | – | – | – | – |
 Bhutan | 3.49 | – | – | – | – |
 Malawi | 0.98 | – | – | – | – |
 Guatemala | 0.06 | – | – | – | – |