Countries with the largest bauxite reserves 2021

The country with the highest amount of bauxite reserves worldwide in 2021 was Guinea. In that year, the reserves of bauxite in Guinea amounted to about 7.4 billion metric dry tons. Globally, bauxite reserves amounted to 32 billion dry metric tons.

What is bauxite?

Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a high content of aluminum. Generally, four metric tons of dried bauxite is required to produce two metric tons of alumina, which, in turn, provides one metric ton of primary aluminum metal. Bauxite can be used, for example, in cement, chemicals, face makeup, soda cans, dishwashers, siding for houses, and other aluminum products. Bauxite production amounted to 390 million metric tons worldwide in 2021, a slight decrease from the previous year which saw 391 million metric tons produced worldwide.

Global production and trade of bauxite

In 2021, Australia produced the largest amount of bauxite worldwide. In that year, the country produced 110 million metric tons of bauxite. Following Australia was Guinea, which produced 86 million metric tons of the rock. In 2020, the total global import volume of bauxite was about 138 million metric tons, and the total exports of bauxite amounted to about 66 million metric tons that year.