Cobalt is what keeps a lithium-ion battery stable and safe at high energy. It is also the most geographically concentrated battery metal on Earth: about 76% of it is mined in one country, the DR Congo, then roughly three-quarters of the world supply is refined in another, China. Who mines it, who refines it, and where it goes. 2024 (USGS / Cobalt Institute) · Compiled June 2026
World mine output 2024
290 kt
mostly a copper and nickel byproduct
DR Congo's share
76%
three of every four tonnes mined
Refined in China
~75%
the second chokepoint
LME price 2024
▼ 58%
down from the 2022 peak
Where the World's Cobalt Is Mined (2024)
Colour intensity shows each country's share of global mine production. Hover a country for its tonnage. No other battery metal is this concentrated in a single place.
Lower shareHigher share
2024 Mine Production by Country (kt)
The DR Congo alone mines almost eight times the next producer. Indonesia is now a clear second, and a long tail of others splits what is left.
World Production Has Doubled in Five Years (kt)
Output roughly doubled since 2019 as EV demand pulled cobalt out of the ground, almost all of it riding on copper mining in the DRC and nickel mining in Indonesia.
290,000 tonnes a year, made tangible.
Cobalt is a small-tonnage metal with an outsized job, hidden inside the batteries you carry and drive. Verify-and-cite figures in the footer.
9 kg
every second
The world mines about 9 kg of cobalt every second of the year.
36 bn
phone batteries / year
At ~8 g of cobalt each, that is more than four for every person alive.
29 mn
EV battery packs / year
At ~10 kg of cobalt per pack, and falling as chemistries change.
76%
from one country
The DR Congo mines more cobalt than the entire rest of the world combined.
Cobalt vs Every Other Metal (annual world production, Mt)
Cobalt is tiny next to the structural metals. At about 0.29 Mt a year it is a rounding error beside steel, yet the modern battery supply chain hangs on it.
Batteries vs Everything Else
Rechargeable batteries are now the engine of cobalt demand, around 70% of it. The rest goes into superalloys, hard metals and chemicals. A decade ago this split was far more even.
Where Cobalt Goes by End Use
EV batteries alone reached 43% of demand in 2024. Add portable electronics and storage and batteries dominate, but cobalt still does critical non-battery jobs.
Why Cobalt Earns Its Place
Cobalt is the stabiliser in a lithium-ion battery. In the cathode it holds the crystal structure together as the cell charges and discharges, which lets the battery pack in more energy without overheating or catching fire. That is why high-performance EV and laptop cells have leaned on it. The catch is cost, supply risk and ethics, so the industry is actively engineering cobalt down. LFP cells use none of it and now power most standard-range EVs, while high-nickel cathodes cut cobalt to a thin stabilising layer. Demand keeps rising in absolute terms, but the grams of cobalt per car keep falling. That tension, more cars yet less cobalt each, is the whole story of this metal right now.
Mined in DR Congo
76%
of world mine supply
Refined in China
~75%
of world refined supply
DRC reserves share
~55%
about 6 of 11 Mt
Price since 2022
▼ 58%
peak to 2024 average
Mined in One Country, Refined in Another (% of world)
Cobalt passes through two chokepoints before it reaches a battery. The DRC controls the rock, and China controls the chemistry that turns it into cathode-grade material.
The Price Has Crashed (LME cobalt, USD per tonne)
A flood of new supply from the DRC and Indonesia met softening demand as cheaper LFP batteries spread. Cobalt fell from above 60,000 dollars a tonne in 2022 to the mid-20,000s in 2024.
The Supply-Chain Story
Cobalt is rarely the reason a mine exists. Almost all of it comes out of the ground as a byproduct of copper in the DRC and nickel in Indonesia, so supply tracks those metals, not cobalt's own price. That makes it hard to simply mine more when batteries need it. The DRC dominates the rock with about 76% of mine supply, but the value chain does not stop there. Most of that ore is shipped to China, which refines roughly three-quarters of the world's cobalt into the chemicals a cathode needs. A meaningful share of DRC output also comes from artisanal and small-scale mining, which carries documented human and environmental costs. So the same pattern as the rare-earths, lithium and nickel stories holds: one country has the resource, another controls the processing.
Why It Matters
Cobalt is a study in how a tiny metal can become a strategic problem. It is barely 0.29 Mt a year, almost all of it a byproduct of copper and nickel, which means you cannot just decide to mine more of it. It is the most concentrated battery metal there is, with about 76% mined in the DRC and three-quarters refined in China, so any buyer outside that chain is exposed. It carries real ethical weight, since part of DRC output comes from artisanal mines with documented human costs. And it is being designed out: LFP batteries use no cobalt and now power most standard-range EVs, while high-nickel cathodes trim it to a thin stabilising layer. The result is a metal that is critical and shrinking per unit at the same time. The question for the next decade is not whether the world runs out of cobalt, but whether it can build supply that is secure and clean before demand and chemistry both move on.