Potash industry worldwide - statistics & facts

Potash is a mineral salt that contains water-soluble potassium, which can be mined from naturally occurring sources or manufactured. Most commonly, potash refers to potassium carbonate or potassium chloride, which is also known as muriate of potash. It is mainly used as a fertilizer, which can take the form of a variety of potash products. The total production volume of potash worldwide amounted to an estimated 71.86 million metric tons in 2021.

Major potash producing countries

Canada is by far the world’s largest potash producing country, having produced some 22.5 million metric tons in 2021. That accounted for 31.3 percent of the total global potash produced that year. The Canadian province Saskatchewan has the world’s largest potash reserves. Following Canada, Russia and Belarus are the world’s second- and third-leading potash producing countries, with Russia’s potash production amounting to 9.1 million metric tons in 2021, and Belarus’ potash production amounting to an estimated 7.6 million metric tons that year. Nearly 25 million metric tons of the global potash produced in 2020 was considered to have been produced by politically unstable countries.

Potash mining companies

In 2018, PotashCorp and Agrium completed a merger of equals, which created Nutrien, the world’s largest potash producing company. Based in Saskatchewan, Nutrien’s potash production amounted to over 13 million metric tons in 2022. The multinational mining company BHP’s Jansen Potash Project that is under development in Saskatchewan is anticipated to produce 4.35 metric tons of potash annually, and will be one of the world’s largest potash mines. Another leading potash producer is the Chilean mining company Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA (SQM).
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Dec 18, 2023

Key insights

Mine production of potash worldwide
39m mt
Volume of potash produced in fairly politically stable countries worldwide
18.3m mt
Global market value of potash fertilizers
26bn USD
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Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Production volume of potash in the United States from 2012 to 2023 (in 1,000 metric tons)

Nonmetallic Mineral Products

U.S. potash production volume 2012-2023

Production volume of potassium chloride and potassium sulfate by Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. from 2020 to 2022 (in 1,000 metric tons)

Minerals

Potash production volume of SQM 2020-2022

Production of potash by Intrepid Potash worldwide from 2019 to 2022 (in 1,000 metric tons)

Minerals

Potash production volume of Intrepid Potash worldwide 2019-2022

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