China Emerges as the World’s Leading Extractor of Domestic Materials in 2023, Overwhelming India and the United States

In 2023, China emerged as the world’s leading extractor of domestic materials, with a total of 34.2 billion tonnes extracted. This amount surpassed India and the United States by more than four times, making China the largest extractor of materials in the world. Additionally, India became the second-largest extractor of materials in the same year, overtaking the United States.

When considering extraction per capita, Australia topped the list with 102 tonnes of materials extracted per person in 2023. Canada followed closely behind with 67 tonnes per capita, while China came in third place with 24 tonnes per capita. It is interesting to note that China’s extraction mix was largely composed of non-metallic materials such as sand, gravel, and clay used for construction and industrial purposes. In contrast, Australia’s major industry was metal ores, making up around 53% of its total extraction.

Globally, a total of 104.1 billion tonnes of biomass, fossil fuels, metal ores, and non-metallic minerals were extracted in 2023. This represents an increase from the previous year’s total of 96.5 billion tonnes. The Asia-Pacific region led in material extraction with 56.9 billion tonnes (accounting for approximately 55% of the world total), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (11.2 billion tonnes), North America (10.6 billion tonnes), Europe (9.2 billion tonnes), Africa (8.2 billion tonnes), West Asia (5