September 12, 2025 - Below are the top ten coal-producing countries in the world:

1. China

In 2024, China remained the world’s largest coal producer, maintaining the same position for decades now.The mining amount is approximately 4.78 billion tonnes, which accounted for more than half of global coal production. Despite some early-year declines due to safety campaigns in coal-intensive provinces like Shanxi, China’s coal output increased by 0.9%. The country’s coal-fired power plants continued to generate the majority of its electricity, at the same time new coal power plant construction hit a decade high. Considering China’s industrial growth and energy security factor, coal is extremely important. China has also achieved the position of largest importer and consumer of coal worldwide.

2. India

The tri-coloured flag has also significantly witnessed the production of coal, making India the second-largest coal producer after China, with production reaching close to 1.05 billion tonnes or about 11.7% of global output. Even though the total amount of production is relatively much lower than China, the sector grew by 7.0% in 2024, supported by government incentives for state-owned miners. Coal remains the backbone of India’s electricity sector, generating more than 70% of the country’s power, reflecting its central role in meeting the energy demands of a rapidly expanding economy and population.

3. Indonesia

Indonesia produced around 836 million tonnes of coal in 2024, securing its position as the world’s largest thermal coal exporter. Same as India, the country’s coal production increased by 7.6%, driven by strong Asian demand and rising domestic consumption. Indonesia’s extensive coal mining sector continues to be one of the strongest pillars of economic growth, with exports supplying major markets in China, India, Japan, and South Korea.

4. United States of America

Till now, one must be thinking, where is the country that is often considered as the epitome of development — the United States of America? Despite having the largest known coal reserves worldwide, the U.S. is steadily reducing its coal industry footprint.The U.S. produced approximately 465 million tonnes of coal, making up 5% of global output but experiencing a significant decline of 11.6%. The main reason behind the decrease is a long-standing shift toward natural gas and renewable energy sources, along with environmental regulations that have resulted in mine closures and reduced coal-fired electricity generation.One interesting fact here is, the largest coal mining area in the world, in terms of production, is the Black Thunder Mine in Wyoming, USA.

5. Australia

Followed by the US, Australia’s production remained stable at around 463 million tonnes in 2024, the graph witnessed a slight upward growth of 0.3%. The country is one of the world’s top coal exporters as a major supplier to China, India, Japan, and South Korea.

6. Russia

Russia produced an estimated 427 million tonnes of coal, ensuring 4.6% of the global total, but the sector saw a slight decline of 1.1% in 2024. Coal mining is concentrated mainly in Siberia and the Far East, mostly serving both domestic consumption for power generation and exports to Asian markets.Complementing its oil and natural gas exports, Coal remains a critical energy resource for Russia.

7. Africa

In Africa, South Africa produced about 235 million tonnes of coal, accounting for 2.5% of global production, with stable output showing a slight 0.3% increase. As Africa’s largest coal miner, South Africa relies heavily on coal for roughly 85% of its electricity generation, making it crucial for national energy security and export revenues.

8. Kazakhstan

Next in the list is Kazakhstan, mining approximately 113 million tonnes of coal but the country has experienced a production decline of 3.6% in 2024. Coal plays an essential role in Kazakhstan’s energy mix, serving domestic power plants and industrial sectors, and the country’s vast size and resource wealth position it as a key Central Asian coal producer.

9. Mongolia

Mongolia’s coal production increased by 27.7% to around 106.5 million tonnes in 2024. It has chaired the position for the fastest coal- producing growth rate among major coal producers. Some major reasons for this expansion are due to increasing mining operations and there is also a significant export demand from neighboring China, making coal mining central to Mongolia’s economic development.

10. Germany

Germany produced about 92 million tonnes of coal but faced a sharp decline of 10.4% in 2024. The country is actively transitioning away from coal as part of its energy and climate policies and plans to phase out coal-fired power generation completely by 2038. Even after this decline, coal remains a supplemental energy source during the transition period.