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List of countries by coal reserves

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The reserve list specifies different types of coal and includes countries with at least 0.1% share of the estimated world's proven reserves of coal. All data are taken from the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) via BP; all numbers are in million tonnes.[1] However BP no longer publishes coal reserves and the Energy Institute has not updated the figures since 2020.[2][3]

Image
A coal mine in Wyoming, United States. The country has the world's largest coal reserves.

Background

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Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements; chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.[4]

As a fossil fuel burned for heat, coal supplies about a quarter of the world's primary energy and two-fifths of its electricity.[5]

The largest consumer and importer of coal is China. China mines almost half the world's coal, followed by India with about a tenth. Australia accounts for about a third of world coal exports, followed by Indonesia and Russia.[6]

Coal is largely held in the Earth in areas that it needs to be mined from, and is generally present in coal seams.

Estimation of proved reserves

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Unlike "resources", which is the amount that could technically be extracted, according to BP in 2019 "total proved reserves of coal" is "generally taken to be those quantities that geological and engineering information indicates with reasonable certainty can be recovered in the future from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions".[1] Thus, like oil reserves, coal reserves can vary with coal and carbon prices. There are various definitions of "reserve".[7]

Unlike the internationally traded commodities hard or soft coal, lignite is not traded far from the place where it is mined because of its low value relative to transport costs, so it does not have a national price.[8] For example lignite costs within India vary greatly.[9]

The IEA does not define “reserve” or proven reserves for coal, only for oil and gas.[10] However the EIA defines US “recoverable coal reserves”.[11]

List (2023)

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List of countries by coal reserves (2023)[12]
Country Short tons (millions)
Image United States 273,244
Image Russia 178,757
Image China 173,108
Image Australia 164,764
Image India 140,795
Image Germany 39,022
Image Indonesia 38,641
Image Ukraine 37,892
Image Kyrgyzstan 31,415
Image Poland 30,598
Image Kazakhstan 28,225
Image Turkey 12,098
Image North Korea 11,684
Image South Africa 10,905
Image Serbia 7,840
Image New Zealand 7,441
Image Brazil 7,271
Image Canada 7,255
Image Eswatini 5,119
Image Colombia 5,020
Image Belgium 4,519
Image Tajikistan 4,492
Image Czech Republic 3,963
Image Bangladesh 3,594
Image Netherlands 3,579
Image Vietnam 3,435
Image Greece 3,170
Image Pakistan 3,149
Image Hungary 2,902
Image Mongolia 2,778
Image Bosnia and Herzegovina 2,496
Image Bulgaria 2,396
Image Nigeria 2,363
Image Mozambique 1,975
Image Botswana 1,830
Image Peru 1,727
Image Kosovo 1,724
Image Tanzania 1,554
Image Uzbekistan 1,516
Image Iran 1,326
Image Spain 1,308
Image Chile 1,302
Image Mexico 1,279
Image Thailand 1,172
Image DR Congo 1,089
Image Zambia 1,042
Image Georgia 993
Image Malawi 884
Image Argentina 882
Image Turkmenistan 882
Image Uganda 882
Image Venezuela 806
Image Italy 672
Image Albania 575
Image Zimbabwe 553
Image Greenland 422
Image Philippines 398
Image Japan 386
Image Namibia 386
Image Montenegro 371
Image North Macedonia 366
Image South Korea 359
Image Armenia 349
Image Romania 321
Image Myanmar 278
Image Malaysia 249
Image Algeria 246
Image Egypt 201
Image France 176
Image Madagascar 165
Image Morocco 106
Image Slovenia 105
Image Niger 99
Image Afghanistan 73
Image Laos 68
Image Ireland 44
Image United Kingdom 29
Image Ecuador 26
Image Slovakia 21
Image   Nepal 9
Image Sweden 6
Image Central African Republic 3
Image Portugal 3
Image New Caledonia 2
Image Norway 2
Image Bolivia 1
Image Taiwan 1

List (2018)

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Country Anthracite & bituminous Subbituminous & lignite Total
Tonnes
(mil)		 % Tonnes
(mil)		 % Tonnes
(mil)		 %
Image United States 220,16730% 30,0529.4% 250,21924%
Image Russia 69,6349.5% 90,73028.4% 160,36415%
Image Australia 70,9279.7% 76,50823.9% 147,43514%
Image China 130,85117.8% 7,9682.5% 138,81913%
Image India 96,46813.1% 4,8951.5% 101,36310%
Image Indonesia 26,1223.6% 10,8783.4% 37,0004%
Image Germany 30% 36,10011.3% 36,1033%
Image Ukraine 32,0394.4% 2,3360.7% 34,3753%
Image Poland 20,5422.8% 5,9371.9% 26,4793%
Image Kazakhstan 25,6053.5% 00% 25,6052%
Image Turkey 5510.1% 10,9753.4% 11,5261%
Image South Africa 9,8931.3% 00% 9,8931%
Image Mongolia 6,4000.9% 1,3500.4% 7,7501%
Image New Zealand 8250.1% 6,7502.1% 7,5751%
Image Serbia 4020.1% 7,1122.2% 7,5141%
Image Brazil 1,5470.2% 5,0491.6% 6,5961%
Image Canada 4,3460.6% 2,2360.7% 6,5821%
Image Colombia 4,8810.7% 00% 4,8810%
Image Vietnam 3,1160.4% 2440.1% 3,3600%
Image Pakistan 2070% 2,8570.9% 3,0640%
Image Hungary 2760% 2,6330.8% 2,9090%
Image Greece 00% 2,8760.9% 2,8760%
Image Czech Republic 1100% 2,5470.8% 2,6570%
Image Bulgaria 1920% 2,1740.7% 2,3660%
Image Uzbekistan 1,3750.2% 00% 1,3750%
Image Mexico 1,1600.2% 510% 1,2110%
Image Spain 8680.1% 3190.1% 1,1870%
Image Thailand 00% 1,0630.3% 1,0630%
Image Venezuela 7310.1% 00% 7310%
World 734,903 100% 319,879 100% 1,054,782 100%

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 "BP Statistical review of world energy 2019" (PDF). British Petroleum. 2019. p. 42. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  2. ↑ "About the statistical review". Statistical review of world energy. Retrieved 2024-03-12. Coal reserves …. Please note that these reserves tables have not been updated this year.
  3. ↑ "Coal proved reserves". Our World in Data.
  4. ↑ Blander, M. "Calculations of the Influence of Additives on Coal Combustion Deposits" (PDF). Argonne National Laboratory. p. 315. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
  5. ↑ "Global energy data". International Energy Agency.
  6. ↑ "Global energy data". International Energy Agency.
  7. ↑ "How much coal is left – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  8. ↑ "Why is there no lignite market?". Euracoal. 2014-09-11. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  9. ↑ "Lignite at Best Price in India". IndiaMART. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  10. ↑ "Glossary". IEA. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  11. ↑ "U.S. Coal Reserves - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)". www.eia.gov. Archived from the original on 2026-02-28. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  12. ↑ "Coal rankings 2023". U.S. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved March 24, 2026.
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