How to Read the USGS Lithium Mineral Commodity Summary — Production, Reserves, Prices and Revisions

As of 13 November 2026, 00:08 KST (retrieved by this page at that time); latest listed on the agency page at retrieval: the two-page lithium data sheet of Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, reached from the USGS Lithium Statistics and Information page, where 2026 is the newest year listed. Its footer reads February 2026; the publication page gives First posted February 6, 2026 and Revised May 27, 2026 (version 1.3). Figures for 2025 are USGS estimates. Primary source: https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-lithium.pdf^[1][3][5]

Comparison basis: all quantities are metric tons of lithium content, as the sheet states, except the price in dollars per metric ton. Changes subtract the displayed cells, and percentages are this page's calculation from the same cells, rounded to one decimal; the world totals are printed as rounded by USGS. World production excludes the United States because U.S. production is withheld (W) in every year, and the world table marks its production column, both years, as estimated (e). Reserves are stock estimates revised between editions, so the reserve rows compare two editions rather than two years of output.^[1][2]

In three lines

1. USGS estimates world lithium mine production outside the United States at 290,000 metric tons of lithium content in 2025 (estimate), up from 222,000 in 2024; U.S. production is withheld.
2. The 2025 average battery-grade lithium carbonate price is put at $9,000 per ton (estimate); the text calls this a 31% decrease, while the table cells give 23.7%.
3. World reserves are 37,000,000 tons in MCS 2026, against 30,000,000 in MCS 2025.^[1][2]

Lithium content, world excluding the United States. The sheet covers data in metric tons of lithium content unless otherwise specified. For the United States it says: "Domestic production data were withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data." The world total row carries footnote 8, Excludes U.S. production, so the 290,000 figure is a total for other countries only.^[1]

Salient statistics. The U.S. table gives imports for consumption, exports, an annual average price for battery-grade lithium carbonate and net import reliance, shown only as >50 for 2023 to 2025, while apparent consumption is withheld (W). Footnote 2 describes the price: "Lithium carbonate price assessments for spot and long-term contracts." It names Benchmark Mineral Intelligence Ltd. as the source. Imports came from Chile (54%) and Argentina (43%) in 2021 to 2024.^[1]

Demand side. "Global consumption of lithium in 2025 was estimated to be 263,000 tons, a 20% increase from consumption of 220,000 tons in 2024." USGS estimates global end uses at batteries 88%, ceramics and glass 4% and lubricating greases 2%, with smaller shares for other uses.^[1]

Reserves and resources are different measures. Reserves total 37,000,000 tons; the resources paragraph says: "Owing to continuing exploration, measured and indicated lithium resources have increased substantially worldwide and total about 150 million tons." Of that, 30 million tons are measured and indicated resources in the United States. The sheet refers readers to Appendix C of the full report for definitions; this page read the lithium sheet, not the 222-page report, so it does not restate those definitions.^[1][4][5]

A 31% fall in the text, 23.7% in the cells. The 2026 sheet says: "For fixed contracts, the annual average U.S. lithium carbonate price was $9,000 per ton in 2025, a decrease of 31% from that in 2024." Its table shows 11,800 for 2024 and 9,000 for 2025, a fall of 23.7% by this page's calculation. The 2024 value printed in MCS 2025 was 14,000 (an estimate), which would give 35.7%. The sheet does not say which 2024 value the 31% uses, so the basis of that figure is not established; the two numbers are shown side by side.^[1][2]

Price cells restated between editions. The price row is labelled annual average-real in both editions, but the cells for the same years differ: 2021 is 11,700 in MCS 2026 against 14,200 in MCS 2025, 2022 is 63,700 against 71,100, 2023 is 39,000 against 41,300, and 2024 is 11,800 against 14,000. The 2026 cells are lower by 17.6%, 10.4%, 5.6% and 15.7% (this page's calculation), not by one common factor. Neither sheet states the base year of the real series, so the reason for the restatement is not established.^[1][2]

2024 world production: 240,000 or 222,000. MCS 2025 estimated 240,000 tons for 2024, an 18% rise from 204,000 in 2023. MCS 2026 prints 222,000 and explains: "Significant revisions were made to the 2024 production for Argentina based on company reports and for Mali based on two new operations started in 2024." Argentina moved from 18,000 to 13,800 and Mali appears with 770, but other countries also changed, such as Australia from 88,000 to 82,700, and Namibia, listed at 2,700 in MCS 2025, is not in the 2026 table. The 2026 sheet notes: "Namibia temporarily removed from mine production owing to legal uncertainties."^[1][2]

Rounded totals against the rows. In the 2026 table the country rows for 2025 add to 288,380, consistent with the rounded total of 290,000. The 2024 rows add to 222,970 while the total reads 222,000, and the reserve rows add to 36,470,000 while the total reads 37,000,000. These sums are this page's calculation. Ordinary rounding of the row sums to the nearest 1,000 tons (223,000) or to the nearest 1 million tons (36,000,000) does not reproduce the printed totals; the sheet does not explain the gaps of 970 and 530,000 tons, and their cause is not established.^[1]

Two reserve figures for Australia. The table gives 8,400,000 tons, and footnote 6 adds: "For Australia, Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant or equivalent reserves were 5.1 million tons." Readers comparing countries should note which of the two figures is used.^[1]

Production. By this page's ranking of the 2025 estimates, Australia leads with 92,000 tons, followed by China (62,000) and Chile (56,000), then Zimbabwe (28,000) and Argentina (23,000). The United States cannot be placed because its output is withheld. USGS gives no error ranges, and the figures are estimates, so close values should not be read as firm orders. China's estimate rises 49.8% from 41,400 in 2024, Australia's 11.2% and Chile's 14.5% (this page's calculation).^[1]

Reserves. Chile has the largest reserve estimate at 9,200,000 tons, then Australia (8,400,000) and China (4,600,000); Argentina and the United States both show 4,400,000. The U.S. figure was 1,800,000 in MCS 2025. The 2026 sheet says reserves for the United States and seven other countries were revised based on company and Government reports; it gives no further reason.^[1][2]

Prices during 2025. The text adds that "Concern about a short-term lithium oversupply kept prices low during the first half of 2025." It reports spot lithium carbonate prices in China rising from about $9,300 per ton in January to about $10,300 in November.^[1]

Dates kept apart. Data: 2021 to 2025, with 2025 estimated. Sheet footer (cover date): February 2026, against January 2025 for the previous edition. Publication: first posted February 6, 2026, revised May 27, 2026 as version 1.3. The version history records reposting as version 1.1 on March 5, 2026, version 1.2 on April 15, 2026 and version 1.3 on May 27, 2026.^[1][2][5][6]

Next release. The Mineral Commodity Summaries page says the report is published on an annual basis, and the publication page says: "The MCS is the earliest comprehensive source of 2025 mineral production data for the world." Neither page gives a date for the 2027 edition, so the next release date is not established. The lithium page also notes: "We are currently in the process of transitioning our datasets to the USGS ScienceBase platform to improve long-term accessibility, documentation, and version control."^[3][4][5]