All · 146
Rare Earth Elements · 18Aerospace & Defence Materials · 10Agricultural Minerals · 3Battery Materials · 5Copper & Electrical Materials · 4Energy Raw Materials · 7Industrial Minerals · 35Nuclear Materials · 5Precious Metals · 10Semiconductor Materials · 11Steel & Alloy Metals · 13Wood & Forest Products · 25
Critical Mineral · 63Strategic · 36Construction · 35Byproduct Only · 27Energy Transition · 26Defence · 24Chip Chain · 17Forest Product · 12Recyclable at Scale · 9Magnet Chain · 8Hardwood · 8Softwood · 7Renewable · 6Food Chain · 6Engineered Wood · 4Grid Chain · 2
18 materials shown. Figures are from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · as each source defines it for each commodity · source ↗
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Material | World production 2025 | World reserves | Leading producer | U.S. imported |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Rare Earths (all) criticalA family of seventeen metals that are not actually rare in the ground, but are hard to separate…
|
390,000metric tons · Mine production | 85,000,000 | China69% of world production† | — |
|
Neodymium criticalThe rare earth at the heart of the strongest magnet ever made — the kind in headphones, hard…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Praseodymium criticalNeodymium's near-twin, so alike that magnet makers usually do not bother separating the two and…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Dysprosium criticalA heavy rare earth added in small amounts to magnets so they keep working when they get hot.
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Terbium criticalThe scarcest of the four magnet rare earths, used in tiny quantities to make a magnet survive…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Lanthanum criticalThe first of the rare earths, used by the tonne in the catalysts that crack crude oil into…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Cerium criticalThe most abundant rare earth — more common in the crust than copper — mostly used as a…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Samarium criticalThe rare earth in the magnet that works where neodymium cannot: very hot, or very cold, or in a…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Europium criticalThe rare earth that glows red under ultraviolet light, and which for decades put the red in…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Gadolinium criticalA rare earth that absorbs neutrons better than almost anything, and that makes MRI scans easier…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Yttrium criticalCounted as a rare earth even though it sits elsewhere on the periodic table, because it behaves…
|
12,500metric tons · mine production of Y2O3 equivalent contained in rare-earth mineral concentrates | — | Chinashare not published | 100% |
|
Scandium criticalA light metal that makes aluminium dramatically stronger and weldable — and which is produced…
|
80.00metric tons · global production | — | Chinashare not published | 100% |
|
Holmium criticalThe rare earth with the strongest magnetic moment of any element, used in the pole pieces of…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Erbium criticalThe rare earth that amplifies light inside a fibre-optic cable without ever turning it back…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Thulium criticalThe least abundant stable rare earth, used in portable X-ray sources and in surgical lasers.
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Ytterbium criticalA rare earth used in the fibre lasers that cut steel in factories, and in some of the most…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Lutetium criticalThe last and densest rare earth, used in the crystals that detect gamma rays inside a PET…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
PromethiumThe one rare earth with no stable form at all — every atom of it is radioactive and decays…
|
not published | — | — | — |
† Worked out from the USGS production table: the leading country’s output divided by the world total. Where the USGS publishes the share itself, that figure is shown instead.
Photographs on this page · 19
- Elementares Neodym.jpg · Tobias Meints · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine, Mountain Pass, California (15470415247).jpg · Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Neodymium oxide 170g.jpg · W. Oelen · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Praseodymium (Element - 59) 2.jpg · James St. John · CC BY 2.0
- Dysprosium (Element - 66) 2.jpg · James St. John · CC BY 2.0
- Terbium prvek.jpg · Milda 444 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Lanthanum (Element - 57) 3.jpg · James St. John · CC BY 2.0
- Cerium (Element - 58) 2.jpg · James St. John · CC BY 2.0
- Samarium shards.jpg · brainandforce · CC0
- Europium prvek.jpg · Milda 444 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Gadolinium 2.jpg · Milda 444 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Piece of Yttrium.jpg · Jan Anskeit · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Scandium (Element - 21).jpg · James St. John · CC BY 2.0
- Holmium shards.jpg · brainandforce · CC0
- Erbium (Element - 68).jpg · James St. John · CC BY 2.0
- Thulium prvek.jpg · Milda 444 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Ytterbium (Element - 70) 2.jpg · James St. John · CC BY 2.0
- PET-schema.png · Jens Maus ( https://jens-maus.de/ ) · Public domain
- Promethium (Element - 61) 1.jpg · James St. John · CC BY 2.0
Every photograph is from Wikimedia Commons and is used under the licence shown.