Kazakhstan remained among the world’s ten largest zinc-producing countries in 2025, according to the latest Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), reports a Qazinform News Agency correspondent. The USGS estimates Kazakhstan’s zinc mine production at 360,000 metric tons in 2025, compared with an estimated 380,000 tons in 2024.
This placed Kazakhstan ninth among the countries individually listed in the report, between Russia and Sweden. Kazakhstan also held an estimated 7.4 million tons of zinc reserves. The USGS said reserves for Kazakhstan, China, India, Peru, Sweden and the United States were revised based on company and government reports.
China remained by far the world’s largest producer, increasing output from 4 million tons in 2024 to 4.1 million tons in 2025. Peru ranked second after production rose from 1.27 million to 1.5 million tons, followed by Australia with 1.1 million tons and India with 870,000 tons.
Russia, meanwhile, recorded one of the largest increases among the countries listed, with output rising from an estimated 310,000 tons to 430,000 tons, moving ahead of Kazakhstan. U.S. production fell from 759,000 to 670,000 tons. Overall, global zinc mine production was estimated at 13 million tons in 2025, up from 11.9 million tons a year earlier.
The USGS put worldwide zinc reserves at around 240 million tons and identified global zinc resources of approximately 1.9 billion tons. The Mineral Commodity Summaries is described by the USGS as the earliest comprehensive source of global mineral production data for 2025.
The May 2026 edition covers more than 90 individual minerals and materials. Zinc remains an important industrial metal. According to the report, its leading use is in galvanized steel, particularly for the automotive and construction sectors. It is also widely used in brass, bronze and zinc-based alloys.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had chaired a meeting of the Security Council focused on developing the country’s critical materials industry, including rare and rare-earth metals.