Economy
All the World’s Metals and Minerals in One Visualization
All the World’s Metals and Minerals in One Visualization
We live in a material world, in that we rely on materials to make our lives better. Without even realizing it, humans consume enormous amounts of metals and minerals with every convenient food package, impressive building, and technological innovation.
Every year, the United States Geological Service (USGS) publishes commodity summaries outlining global mining statistics for over 90 individual minerals and materials. Today’s infographic visualizes the data to reveal the dramatic scale of 2019 non-fuel mineral production.
Read all the way to the bottom; the data will surprise you.
Non-Fuel Minerals: USGS Methodology
A wide variety of minerals can be classified as “non-fuel”, including precious metals, base metals, industrial minerals, and materials used for construction.
Non-fuel minerals are those not used for fuel, such as oil, natural gas and coal. Once non-fuel minerals are used up, there is no replacing them. However, many can be recycled continuously.
The USGS tracked both refinery and mine production of these various minerals. This means that some minerals are the essential ingredients for others on the list. For example, iron ore is critical for steel production, and bauxite ore gets refined into aluminum.
Top 10 Minerals and Metals by Production
Sand and gravel are at the top of the list of non-fuel mineral production.
As these materials are the basic components for the manufacturing of concrete, roads, and buildings, it’s not surprising they take the lead.
Rank | Metal/Mineral | 2019 Production (millions of metric tons) |
---|---|---|
#1 | Sand and Gravel | 50,000 |
#2 | Cement | 4,100 |
#3 | Iron and Steel | 3,200 |
#4 | Iron Ore | 2,500 |
#5 | Bauxite | 500 |
#6 | Lime | 430 |
#7 | Salt | 293 |
#8 | Phosphate Rock | 240 |
#9 | Nitrogen | 150 |
#10 | Gypsum | 140 |
These materials fertilize the food we eat, and they also form the structures we live in and the roads we drive on. They are the bones of the global economy.
Let’s dive into some more specific categories covered on the infographic.
Base Metals
While cement, sand, and gravel may be the bones of global infrastructure, base metals are its lifeblood. Their consumption is an important indicator of the overall health of an economy.
Base metals are non-ferrous, meaning they contain no iron. They are often more abundant in nature and sometimes easier to mine, so their prices are generally lower than precious metals.
Rank | Base Metal | 2019 Production (millions of metric tons) |
---|---|---|
#1 | Aluminum | 64.0 |
#2 | Copper | 20.0 |
#3 | Zinc | 13.0 |
#4 | Lead | 4.5 |
#5 | Nickel | 2.7 |
#6 | Tin | 0.3 |
Base metals are also the critical materials that will help to deliver a green and renewable future. The electrification of everything will require vast amounts of base metals to make everything from batteries to solar cells work.
Precious Metals
Gold and precious metals grab the headlines because of their rarity — and their production shows just how rare they are.
Rank | Precious Metal | 2019 Production (metric tons) |
---|---|---|
#1 | Silver | 27,000 |
#2 | Gold | 3,300 |
#3 | Palladium | 210 |
#4 | Platinum | 180 |
While metals form the structure and veins of the global economy, ultimately it is humans and animals that make the flesh of the world, driving consumption patterns.
A Material World: A Perspective on Scale
The global economy’s appetite for materials has quadrupled since 1970, faster than the population, which only doubled. On average, each human uses more than 13 metric tons of materials per year.
In 2017, it’s estimated that humans consumed 100.6B metric tons of material in total. Half of the total comprises sand, clay, gravel, and cement used for building, along with the other minerals mined to produce fertilizer. Coal, oil, and gas make up 15% of the total, while metal makes up 10%. The final quarter are plants and trees used for food and fuel.
Economy
Confidence in the Global Economy, by Country
Will the global economy be stronger in 2024 than in 2023?
Confidence in the Global Economy, by Country
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Measuring consumer confidence in the economy is crucial for understanding both current economic strength, as well as how consumers may be expected to act in the future.
So how do people around the world feel about the global economy?
This visualization uses survey data collected from October 20 to November 3, 2023 by Ipsos. It was first highlighted as part of our 2024 Global Forecast Series.
Which Countries Feel Confident About the Economy in 2024?
Heading into 2024, an average of 50% of polled adults felt confident that the global economy would be stronger than in 2023. But breaking down responses by country shows a vast disparity between responses.
Here are the percentage of respondents who agreed with the following statement: “The global economy will be stronger in 2024 than it was in 2023.” We also note the change in percentage points (p.p.) compared with the same question a year prior.
Country | Agree | Change (Year-over-year) |
---|---|---|
🇮🇳 India | 85% | +12 p.p. |
🇮🇩 Indonesia | 82% | +14 p.p. |
🇨🇳 China | 82% | +4 p.p. |
🇵🇭 Philippines | 74% | N/A |
🇹🇭 Thailand | 68% | +4 p.p. |
🇲🇾 Malaysia | 62% | +8 p.p. |
🇲🇽 Mexico | 62% | +6 p.p. |
🇧🇷 Brazil | 60% | -13 p.p. |
🇸🇬 Singapore | 59% | +4 p.p. |
🇵🇱 Poland | 56% | +20 p.p. |
🇳🇿 New Zealand | 56% | N/A |
🇨🇴 Colombia | 54% | +5 p.p. |
🇨🇱 Chile | 51% | +8 p.p. |
🇵🇪 Peru | 51% | -3 p.p. |
🇦🇷 Argentina | 51% | +3 p.p. |
🇿🇦 South Africa | 49% | +2 p.p. |
🇦🇺 Australia | 48% | +7 p.p. |
🇭🇺 Hungary | 46% | +15 p.p. |
🇷🇴 Romania | 45% | +8 p.p. |
🇺🇸 United States | 45% | +3 p.p. |
🇪🇸 Spain | 44% | +8 p.p. |
🇳🇱 Netherlands | 44% | +12 p.p. |
🇹🇷 Türkiye | 43% | 0 p.p. |
🇬🇧 Great Britain | 43% | +11 p.p. |
🇨🇭 Switzerland | 43% | +8 p.p. |
🇮🇹 Italy | 40% | +8 p.p. |
🇩🇪 Germany | 40% | +3 p.p. |
🇨🇦 Canada | 39% | +2 p.p. |
🇸🇪 Sweden | 34% | +1 p.p. |
🇫🇷 France | 33% | +4 p.p. |
🇰🇷 South Korea | 33% | -5 p.p. |
🇵🇹 Portugal | 33% | N/A |
🇯🇵 Japan | 30% | 0 p.p. |
🌍 Global average | 50% | +4 p.p. |
At the top, India, Indonesia, and China stood as being the most confident about 2024’s economic prospects. 85% of Indian respondents agreed that the global economy will be stronger in 2024 than in 2023, while 82% of Chinese and Indonesian respondents felt the same.
Regional disparities also become evident, with Asian countries making up the top five most confident countries and seven out of the top nine. In fact, South Korea and Japan were the only Asian countries surveyed that were not feeling confident, with Japanese respondents being the least confident (30%) and South Koreans tied for the second-least confident (33%).
Countries in South America ranged from Brazil having a high of 60% of respondents agree with 2024 being stronger than 2023 to Chile having a “low” of 51%. North American countries were more split, with Mexico feeling more confident and Canada feeling less confident.
Lastly, Europe stood out as being the least confident in the global economy in 2024. Only Poland (56%) had more than 50% agree that this year would be better than the last, while major economies like Germany (40%) and France (33%) sat closer to the bottom of the table.
-
Money7 days ago
Visualizing All of the U.S. Currency in Circulation
-
Markets2 weeks ago
Ranked: South Korea’s Largest Companies by Market Capitalization
-
VC+2 weeks ago
What’s New on VC+ in March?
-
Economy2 weeks ago
Confidence in the Global Economy, by Country
-
Wealth1 week ago
Mapped: Where Do the Wealthiest People in the World Live?
-
Misc1 week ago
Ranked: Global Airlines with the Most Plane Crashes
-
Technology1 week ago
Visualizing iPhone 15 Production by Manufacturer in 2023
-
Automotive1 week ago
Visualizing Global Electric Vehicle Sales in 2023, by Market Share