Rare earths are critical in electric vehicles, renewable energy, military applications and high-tech industries. Demand for rare earth metals such as neodymium, dysprosium, praseodymium and yttrium is increasing alongside technological advancements, particularly as artificial intelligence technology gains further importance.
1.China
In 2024, China’s domestic output of rare earths was 270,000 metric tons, up from 255,000 metric tons the previous year. As mentioned, China has dominated rare earths production for quite some time. While China dominates global production of the vast majority of the 17 different rare earth elements, its output is heavily concentrated in lights rare earths, specifically the magnet rare earths neodymium and praseodymium.
2.United States
The US produced 45,000 metric tons of rare earths in 2024, up from 41,600 metric tons in the previous year. Rare earths supply in the US currently comes only from the Mountain Pass mine in California, which is owned by MP Materials (NYSE: MP). Mountain Pass is producing high-purity neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) oxide, a key material for high-strength neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) magnets
3.Myanmar (also known as Burma)
Myanmar produced 31,000 metric tons of rare earths in 2024. This was a decrease of more than 27 percent from the 43,000 MT of rare earths Myanmar mined in the previous year, but still up more than 158 percent from the 12,000 the nation produced in 2022. Supply was down that year due to a temporary halt in production associated with the turmoil following the 2021 military coup
4.Australia
In 2024, Australia’s rare earths production came in at 13,000 metric tons, down from 16,000 metric tons in the previous year. That’s compared to the 24,000 metric tons produced in 2021. The country holds the world’s fourth largest rare earths reserves and is poised to increase its output
5.Nigeria
Nigeria’s rare earths production in 2024 was 13,000 metric tons, up more than 80 percent over the previous year’s output level. The African nation is a newcomer to the ranks of the top 10 rare earths producing nations. As Nigeria’s rare earths mining industry is still in the early stage of its development, little is known about the extent of its rare earths reserves at this time.
Rare Earth Elements are vital for everything from your smartphone to green energy tech. But did you know one country overwhelmingly dominates their production? Which nation leads in REE production, and what are the global implications of this concentration? Share your insights!
Text rights:( Melissa Pistilli, 2025)
Text source:success, Y. trusted source for investing. (n.d.). Top 10 Countries by Rare Earth Metal Production | INN. Retrieved July 10, 2025, from https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/critical-metals-investing/rare-earth-investing/rare-earth-metal-production/
