Coal production in Axis European countries 1900-1945, by country

During the early 20^th century, Germany was the largest producer of coal in Europe. In fact, Germany's output was several times larger than the output of all other European Axis powers combined, as it was the major industrial power within the group. Compared to the Allied powers of Europe, the only country that comes close to German output was the United Kingdom, whose annual coal output ranged between 200,000 and 300,000 tons in most years. Major events caused noticeable fluctuations in Germany's coal output, such as the hyperinflation of 1923 or the Great Depression in the early 1930s, as well as the world wars. During the world wars, however, the trajectory of output varied; during the First World War, output dropped due to mass mobilization and disruption, but output rose steadily throughout the Second World War as coal mining was prioritized for the war effort, and this was boosted through the annexation of coal-rich territories elsewhere in Europe.

Of the other Axis powers, Austria's output was highest before the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, when it lost it coal-producing territories in Czechoslovakia and Poland. Romania is not included here as its coal output was lower still than the other countries, although it was the second largest producer of oil or natural gas in Europe at the time, after the USSR.