Top Copper Producing Countries in the World

Copper quietly runs the modern world. It threads through power grids, motors, data centers, EVs, and the wiring inside every factory and apartment block. As countries race to electrify and re-industrialize, the handful of nations that dominate copper supply are becoming strategically important in a way they haven’t been since the original electrification boom a century ago.

Global copper mine production was about 23 million metric tons in 2024, with known reserves around 1 billion metric tons. Yet both the energy transition and digitalization are set to push demand far higher. A recent analysis from UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) projects that copper demand will grow by over 40% by 2040, potentially requiring around 80 new mines and $250 billion in investment by 2030 to keep up.

In that context, the top copper-producing countries sit at the crossroads of energy security, industrial policy, and geopolitics.

How the copper supply chain is structured

Before we zoom in on the leading producers, it’s worth understanding three big structural facts about the copper system:

1. Mine output is concentrated.
   In 2023–2024, roughly 70% of global mine production came from just five countries: Chile, Peru, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, China, and the United States.

2. Refining is even more concentrated.
   According to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and UN trade data, China alone produces over 45% of the world’s refined copper and imports about 60% of global copper ore. That means many mining countries still export mostly raw material, while value-added products and industrial profits accrue elsewhere.

3. Recycling is already a major “hidden mine.”
   In 2023, secondary refined copper from scrap reached roughly 4.5 million tons—about 20% of refined supply. Because copper is infinitely recyclable without losing quality, scrap is now a central part of supply-security strategies.

With that backdrop, let’s look at the countries that matter most on the mining side—and how their geology, politics, and industrial strategies shape the global energy and manufacturing economy.

Table 1 – Top Copper-Producing Countries (Mine Output, 2024e)

The table below is based on the 2025 Mineral Commodity Summaries – Copper data sheet, which gives 2024 estimated mine production in thousand metric tons (kt).

Table 1. Top 10 copper producers by mine output, 2024e

*World total mine production 2024e: 23,000 kt (23 million metric tons).

These ten countries alone account for roughly 80% of global mined copper.

1. Chile – the incumbent copper superpower

Scale and geology

For decades, Chile has been the undisputed heavyweight of copper. In 2024, it produced about 5.3 million metric tons, roughly 23% of global mine output. It also holds around 190 million tons of copper reserves, about one-fifth of the global total.

Chile’s dominance rests on a chain of world-class porphyry deposits in the Andes, including:

• The Escondida open pit, the world’s largest copper mine by output, operated by a consortium led by BHP.

• Giant state-owned operations run by Codelco, such as Chuquicamata and El Teniente.

Pressures: aging mines and water constraints

Yet Chile’s story is no longer just smooth dominance:

• Ore grades have been declining, meaning more rock has to be moved and processed per unit of copper.

• Many mines face acute water scarcity in the Atacama Desert, forcing companies to invest heavily in seawater desalination and pumping infrastructure.

• Environmental and social scrutiny has increased, leading to tighter permitting in some regions.

Analysts still expect Chilean production to grow modestly as new projects and brownfield expansions ramp up—but the days of easy growth are over.

Strategic role

Chile sits in a paradoxical position:

• It is both the world’s largest miner and largely a concentrate exporter, with much of the value added abroad.

• It is trying to move further into refining and downstream semi-fabrication, but faces competition from large Asian smelters and higher local energy costs.

For the energy transition, Chile’s stability, legal framework, and geological endowment make it a cornerstone of global supply—but not a bottomless one.

2. Democratic Republic of the Congo – fast-rising giant

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has undergone a dramatic copper renaissance. In 2024 it produced roughly 3.3 million metric tons, up from 2.93 million the year before, and now ranks second globally behind Chile.

Drivers of growth

The surge is rooted in:

• Massive new and expanded projects in the Copperbelt, often co-producing cobalt.

• Flagship operations such as the Kamoa-Kakula complex, operated by Ivanhoe Mines and its partner Zijin Mining Group. Phase 3 helped push Kamoa-Kakula’s 2024 output to more than 430,000 tons of copper, with further expansion planned.

The DRC also holds around 80 million tons of copper reserves, placing it among the top five globally.

Risk and opportunity

On the one hand, the DRC offers:

• High-grade deposits, making it one of the cheapest places in the world to mine copper on a cash-cost basis.

• Enormous room for growth as infrastructure improves.

On the other hand, investors face:

• Political and regulatory volatility.

• Concerns over governance, contract stability, and corruption.

• Human-rights and environmental issues in some mining areas.

For companies and importing countries, the DRC is both indispensable and high risk—a key reason why diversification to other regions is a strategic priority.

3. Peru – Andean engine with social fault lines

Peru produced about 2.6 million metric tons of copper in 2024, making it the third-largest miner globally, though output dipped slightly from 2023. It holds roughly 100 million tons of reserves, comparable to Australia and second only to Chile.

Asset base

Peru’s production is anchored by large, modern operations such as:

• Cerro Verde, majority-owned by Freeport-McMoRan.

• Quellaveco, operated by Anglo American.

• Las Bambas and Antapaccay, among others.

Many of these mines sit at high altitude in the Andes and are connected to ports by long, vulnerable transport corridors.

Social and political dynamics

Peru’s copper story is increasingly shaped by:

• Local community conflicts over land, water, and benefit sharing.

• Blockades and protests that periodically shut down key mines or rail lines, sometimes cutting exports for weeks at a time.

• Political volatility at the national level, which can delay permitting or tax reforms.

For downstream users, Peruvian copper is high quality and strategically located on the Pacific, but supply disruptions are a recurring risk.

4. China – moderate miner, dominant refiner

China mined about 1.8 million metric tons of copper in 2024, ranking fourth globally. Its mine output is modest relative to its economic size—but that’s not where its real influence lies.

Refining powerhouse

China is the center of gravity for copper processing:

• It produces about 12 million metric tons of refined copper annually, more than 44–45% of global refined output.

• It imports around 60% of global copper ore and concentrates, then exports some refined metal and semi-finished products.

China’s smelters and refiners are integrated into domestic manufacturing clusters, supplying everything from power cables to EV motors and electronics.

Strategic implications

• For miners: China is the largest single customer. Contract terms, treatment charges, and environmental standards in Chinese smelting heavily influence global pricing and project economics.

• For the rest of the world: dependence on Chinese refining capacity creates a different kind of strategic vulnerability, even for countries that mine their own copper.

China also sits on about 41 million tons of copper reserves, though its mine grades are generally lower than those in Latin America or the DRC.

5. Indonesia – from sleeper to top-five producer

Indonesia has rapidly climbed the rankings, with 2024 mine production estimated at 1.1 million tons, up sharply from just over 900,000 tons in 2023.

Growth engines

Key drivers include:

• The Grasberg complex, historically one of the world’s largest gold-copper mines, operated by Freeport-McMoRan and local partners.

• The Batu Hijau mine, which has ramped up output as new high-grade phases are developed.

Indonesia also has about 21 million tons of copper reserves, giving it long-term growth potential.

Policy direction

Indonesia has aggressively pursued a “refine at home” policy:

• It has restricted raw ore exports in several commodities (notably nickel), encouraging investment in domestic smelting.

• Similar pressures are building in copper, with new smelter projects aimed at capturing more value from concentrates produced domestically.

If that strategy succeeds, Indonesia could become both a major miner and a regional refining hub for the wider Asia-Pacific market.

6. United States – mature industry with critical-mineral ambitions

The United States produced around 1.1 million tons of copper in 2024, down slightly from 2023 and below earlier peaks. Most output comes from Arizona, which accounts for about 70% of U.S. mine production, alongside mines in Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Michigan, Missouri, and Montana.

Industrial base

The U.S. industry features:

• Large open-pit mines such as Morenci and Bingham Canyon.

• A diversified mid-stream: brass mills, wire-rod mills, and foundries that supply construction, autos, power equipment, and defense.

The U.S. also ranks among the top exporters of copper scrap, shipping waste and recycled copper to refineries around the world.

Strategic debate

As copper is increasingly seen as a critical mineral for energy and defense, U.S. policy is wrestling with:

• How to expand domestic mining without sacrificing environmental and Indigenous rights.

• How to support refining and recycling to reduce import dependence.

• Whether tariffs on metals help or hurt long-term supply security.

The U.S. holds about 47 million tons of copper reserves, suggesting that geology is not the limiting factor—politics and permitting are.

7. Russia – significant producer amid sanctions and uncertainty

Russia produced an estimated 930,000 tons of copper in 2024, up from about 890,000 tons in 2023. It also holds around 80 million tons of reserves, putting it in the same league as the DRC.

Major growth projects, such as the Udokan deposit in Siberia, are ramping up and could significantly boost Russian output later this decade.

However, sanctions and geopolitical tensions have:

• Redirected Russian copper flows toward Asian markets, particularly China.

• Complicated financing, equipment sourcing, and technology partnerships.

For global copper trade, Russia is a sizable but increasingly regionally siloed supplier.

8. Australia – modest output, massive reserves

Australia mined about 800,000 tons of copper in 2024, a slight increase from 2023. Its significance, however, lies in its huge resource base:

• Around 100 million tons of reserves, tied with Peru for second place globally and just behind Chile.

Key assets include:

• Olympic Dam, a polymetallic giant producing copper, uranium, gold, and silver.

• Several large mining hubs in South Australia and Queensland.

Australia combines:

• Strong rule of law and mining know-how.

• High operating costs and increasingly stringent environmental standards.

For countries seeking “friend-shored” supply outside higher-risk jurisdictions, Australian copper is attractive, though not cheap.

9. Kazakhstan – the quiet climber

Kazakhstan has quietly become a serious copper player, producing around 740,000 tons in 2024, effectively unchanged from 2023 but up substantially from earlier in the decade.

The country’s mining plan aims to boost overall mineral output by about 40% by 2029 through:

• Expanded exploration.

• Co-financing of projects.

• Tax incentives for investors.

Companies like KAZ Minerals operate large open-pit complexes such as Aktogay, which alone produces hundreds of thousands of tons of copper per year.

Kazakhstan holds roughly 20 million tons of reserves, and its position between Europe, China, and Russia gives it strategic transit options—so long as regional geopolitics remain manageable.

10. Mexico – integrated producer in North America

Mexico rounds out the top ten with about 700,000 tons of mine production in 2024, slightly above its 2023 output.

The country’s copper industry is dominated by Grupo México, which operates:

• Buenavista del Cobre, a massive open-pit operation in Sonora.

• La Caridad and other large mines further south.

Mexico also plays a key role in regional supply chains under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), feeding copper into North American manufacturing, autos, and infrastructure.

With about 53 million tons of reserves, Mexico has room to expand, though community relations, water use, and environmental issues are increasingly important factors in project approvals.

Table 2 – Copper Reserves: Who Controls the Long Game?

Production tells you who matters now. Reserves hint at who will matter decades from now.

Based on USGS 2025 data (reserves in thousand metric tons), here’s how the largest reserve holders stack up.

Table 2. Major copper reserves by country

*World total reserves rounded to 980,000 kt (980 million metric tons).

A few key takeaways:

• Just five countries (Chile, Australia, Peru, DRC, Russia) control over half of global reserves, a point emphasized by UNCTAD.

• Countries like Australia and Peru look more important in the long-term reserves picture than their current mine output alone might suggest.

• Reserve figures tend to increase over time as exploration advances and prices justify lower-grade ore, so the map is not static.

Copper, electrification, and manufacturing: why these producers matter

Copper isn’t just another base metal; it’s the wiring of the energy transition. Several structural trends are pushing demand higher:

• Electrification of transport.
  Battery-electric vehicles use roughly 2–3 times as much copper as internal-combustion cars once you account for motors, inverters, and charging infrastructure.

• Renewable power and grids.
  Wind turbines, solar farms, and the expanded grids needed to connect them are all copper-intensive, especially in underground cables and transformers.

• Digital infrastructure.
  Data centers, AI hardware, and 5G networks are highly copper-dependent on top of their use of aluminum and fiber optics.

Estimates compiled by the World Resources Institute suggest that global refined copper demand could rise from roughly 27 million tons today to about 33 million by 2035 and 37 million by 2050. Meanwhile, mine supply may peak in the late 2020s and decline thereafter as high-grade deposits are exhausted and older mines close, unless large new projects come online.

That mismatch implies:

• Periodic supply deficits and volatile prices.

• Intense competition for offtake from the countries listed in Table 1.

• Growing pressure on these producers to expand quickly—while somehow staying within environmental and social limits.

The development challenge: moving up the value chain

Most top mining countries are still grappling with the same question: how do we capture more value than just digging and shipping ore?

UNCTAD’s copper trade analysis highlights that:

• Raw copper and concentrates face low tariffs in many markets.

• Finished copper products like wires, tubes, and pipes often face higher tariffs, a pattern known as tariff escalation.

• As a result, value-added manufacturing is concentrated in a few industrialized economies—Germany, China, and a handful of others—rather than in the mining countries themselves.

For copper-rich developing countries like the DRC or Peru, moving up the ladder means:

• Investing in refining and semi-fabrication capacity.

• Building reliable power, transport, and water infrastructure.

• Improving skills, governance, and industrial policy.

Some steps in this direction are already visible:

• Indonesia’s restrictions on raw ore exports in nickel (and pressure to do more copper refining domestically).

• Chile’s conversations around “green copper”, using renewable energy and desalinated water to differentiate its product.

But shifting from being a resource supplier to an industrial hub is a long game—and not every miner will succeed.

Recycling, substitution, and the “fourth mine”

As demand rises and easy deposits dwindle, three levers will shape how heavily the world leans on the top mining countries:

1. Recycling expansion
   Secondary refined copper is already nearly one-fifth of global refined supply, and organizations like the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) expect this share to keep rising.

   • Mature economies with large building stocks and old infrastructure (U.S., Europe, Japan) are rich sources of “urban ore.”

   • For developing countries, building scrap-processing industries could create new green-jobs sectors and reduce import dependence.

2. Efficiency and miniaturization
   Better motor designs, lighter wiring, and smarter grid architecture can reduce copper intensity per unit of GDP or per kWh delivered, offsetting some demand growth even as total usage rises.

3. Substitution
   Materials like aluminum can replace copper in some applications (e.g., overhead power lines), and optical fiber substitutes for copper in telecoms. But for many high-current, compact applications—traction motors, transformers, busbars—copper remains hard to beat.

Even with aggressive recycling and substitution, most serious forecasts still show sustained dependence on mined copper from the countries profiled here.

What it all means for the global energy and manufacturing economy

Put together, a few big picture themes emerge:

• Copper is increasingly geopolitical.
  With more than half of reserves sitting in just a handful of countries—and massive refining capacity concentrated in China—concerns about supply security and concentration risk are growing.

• The top producers’ domestic choices affect everyone.
  Decisions in Chile on water policy, in the DRC on governance, in Peru on community relations, or in the U.S. on permitting can move global prices and influence whether renewable and grid projects stay on budget.

• The energy transition will not succeed on technology alone.
  It also depends on digging, processing, and recycling enough copper—and doing so in ways that are socially and environmentally acceptable.

• There is a race to add value, not just volume.
  Mining countries that successfully move up the copper value chain into refining, semi-fabrication, and even finished electrical goods will gain far more than those that only export concentrate.

In short, the top copper-producing countries are not just suppliers of a commodity; they are becoming pivotal actors in how fast and how fairly the world can build the infrastructure of a low-carbon, data-intensive economy.