Rare Earths by Country: China Leads Every Stage, Widening Each Time
China's share rises from 69% at mining to 94% at magnet manufacturing, the steepest stage-by-stage concentration increase in this series.
Reserves point the same direction, with one exception
Reserve estimates rank China first by a wide margin, followed by Vietnam, Brazil, India, Australia, Russia, and the United States, broadly reinforcing China’s long-term position rather than suggesting it erodes naturally over time. Vietnam’s comparatively large reserve relative to its current near-zero production is a real, underexploited gap, similar in shape to Bolivia’s lithium paradox covered on lithium’s country page, though far less developed as an alternative supply source so far.
Sources: production and reserve figures reference this project’s own verified production data (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025).