Fertilizer Production by Country: Top Producers Ranked

China is the largest fertilizer producer in the world for two of the three main nutrients. In 2025 it made about 49 million tonnes of nitrogen as ammonia, close to a third of the 160 million tonne world total, and mined about 110 million tonnes of phosphate rock, 44% of world output (USGS nitrogen, 2026; USGS phosphate rock, 2026). Potash is the exception: Canada leads with about 15 million of the world’s 49 million tonnes (USGS potash, 2026).

This page gives the country tables for each nutrient, shows how the order has moved since 2022, and explains where your own supply is likely to come from. Copper and silver tables from the same source follow further down. A calculator lets you test what losing your main source country would cost.

Fertilizer production by country: the top producers

The table ranks the five largest producers of each nutrient on 2025 estimates. All figures are in million tonnes and come from the US Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.

Do not add the columns together. USGS counts nitrogen by nitrogen content, phosphate as saleable rock and potash as potassium oxide (K2O) equivalent, the standard way of stating potassium content. USGS notes that China’s phosphate figure covers large mines only.

What country produces the most fertilizer?

By the three tables above, China produces the most nitrogen and phosphate rock, and no country leads all three. Any ranking that names one country without naming a nutrient is hiding that choice. Morocco shows why tonnage alone misleads: it mined about a third as much rock as China in 2025, yet it holds about 50 billion of the world’s 73 billion tonnes of phosphate reserves (USGS, 2026). Reserves are the part of a deposit judged economic to extract.

Nitrogen fertilizer production by country

Nitrogen fertilizer is manufactured, not mined. Plants combine nitrogen from the air with hydrogen, usually taken from natural gas or coal, to make ammonia. The ammonia then becomes urea, ammonium nitrate and other products. The air is available everywhere, so feedstock and energy are a key factor in where plants are built. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that just over 70% of ammonia is made from natural gas and most of the rest from coal (IEA, 2021), and links the output of the United States, the Middle East and Russia to low-cost gas.

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Nitrogen as ammonia: named producers

Million tonnes of contained nitrogen, 2025 estimates, selected countries

That is why this list is the longest of the three. USGS lists more than 20 countries, including Egypt at 4 million tonnes, Canada at 3.8 million, Trinidad and Tobago at 3.3 million and Nigeria at 2 million (2025 estimates).

• China: 49 million tonnes, flat on 2024. The IEA described China as the largest ammonia producer, with about 30% of output (2021).
• Russia: about 15 million tonnes in 2025, also flat on 2024.
• United States: about 14 million tonnes from 38 plants in 19 states. About 57% of capacity sits in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, close to natural gas, and about 88% of output goes to fertilizer (USGS, 2026).
• Indonesia: about 6 million tonnes, up from 5.7 million in 2024.

Because gas is the main input, nitrogen costs follow energy. USGS reports the weekly Gulf Coast ammonia price moving from $490 per short ton in early 2025 to $357 in late June and $492 in late September, with a 2025 average near US$450. If you buy nitrogen, this is a price to watch when gas costs jump. Soil tests and field-by-field application planning can reduce how much you have to buy at those prices.

Phosphate rock: where it is mined

Phosphate and potash come from rock and brine deposits, so geology sets the map. USGS names China, Morocco, the United States and Russia, in that order, as the leading phosphate rock producers. World output rose about 5% in 2025.

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Phosphate rock reserves

Billion tonnes, largest six countries listed by USGS

The reserves picture is very different from the production list. Morocco holds about 68% of the reserves USGS reports, while China holds under 5%. A buyer thinking about supply over decades should read both tables. USGS also states that there are no imminent shortages of phosphate rock, with world resources of more than 300 billion tonnes, so reserve concentration is a question of who supplies the rock rather than of running out.

US output has held near 20 million tonnes a year as Florida producers deal with shrinking reserves and lower phosphate content, and imports have risen. USGS records US phosphate rock imports almost entirely from Peru (more than 99%, 2021-24). Rock was also mined in Idaho, North Carolina and Utah in 2025. If you want the exploration side of these bulk deposits, see how phosphate and potash deposits are explored.

Potash: which countries mine it

Potash comes from buried salt beds, mined underground or dissolved and pumped up as brine. It is the most concentrated of the three by geology. Canada, Russia, Belarus and China made about 37 of the world’s 49 million tonnes in 2025 (USGS). Natural Resources Canada describes Canada as the largest producer and exporter, with its 10 active mines all in Saskatchewan.

Reserve figures here are worth a second look, because they differ by source. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 lists Russia at 2 billion tonnes of K2O, Canada at 1.1 billion and Laos at 1 billion, while Natural Resources Canada calls Canadian reserves the largest. Check the date and basis of any reserve ranking before you rely on it.

The United States mined about 0.5 million tonnes in 2025, from New Mexico and Utah. It relied on imports for 92% of its use, with 79% of imports from Canada and 12% from Russia (2021-24, USGS). A proposed mine in Michigan received a conditional US Department of Energy loan commitment of $1.26 billion in January 2025. USGS said the conditions had to be met within a year, so check its current status.

Largest fertilizer producers in earlier years

Older rankings are still widely quoted. For 2022 the answer matches 2025: China led nitrogen and phosphate rock, and Canada led potash. These figures, in million tonnes, come from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024 and its nitrogen and phosphate chapters.

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Potash output, 2022 and 2025

Million tonnes K2O equivalent, five largest producers in 2025

World potash output rose the most in percentage terms, about 20% from 40.9 to 49 million tonnes, against about 10% for nitrogen and phosphate rock. USGS said uncertainty from economic sanctions on Belarus and Russia pushed potash prices up in the first half of 2022. By 2025 its estimates showed Russia near 10 million tonnes and Belarus near 6 million, both above 2022. These are estimates from two editions, and USGS revises past years, so treat small changes as noise.

Where US fertilizer comes from

If you farm or buy inputs in the United States, the three nutrients carry very different import risk. Net import reliance is the share of use not met by domestic output.

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US net import reliance by nutrient

Percent of apparent consumption; 2025 is an estimate

These figures cover the raw materials USGS tracks, not every finished bag, so a blended product can have a longer chain. The USDA Economic Research Service keeps a fertilizer use and price data series for US trends.

How exposed is your fertilizer supply?

Start with the nutrient you spend most on, then ask your dealer where the product usually originates. Enter that share below to see how many tonnes you would have to find elsewhere, and what a price premium on those tonnes would add. It models a full loss of one source only. It does not include freight changes or delays.

Copper production by country

Copper and silver have no direct link to fertilizer supply, but this page has long covered them, so here are the same kind of figures. Chile led mine production in 2025 at about 5.3 million of the world’s 23 million tonnes (USGS copper, 2026). The Congo (Kinshasa) was second at 3.2 million and Peru third at 2.7 million.

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Copper mine production

Million tonnes of copper content, 2025 estimates, seven largest producers

Refining is a different list. China refined about 14 million of the world’s 29 million tonnes in 2025, against 1.8 million tonnes mined at home, followed by the Congo at 2.8 million and Chile at 1.7 million. Chile also holds the largest reserves listed, at 180 million of about 980 million tonnes. For more detail, see where copper is found, the largest copper companies and copper mining in the DRC.

▶ How copper moves from mines such as those in Chile to finished products · 6:03

Silver production by country

Mexico led silver mine output in 2025 at about 6,300 of the world’s 26,000 tonnes, ahead of Peru at 3,600 and China at 3,400 (USGS silver, 2026). Peru reports the largest reserves in the USGS table, at 110,000 of 610,000 tonnes.

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Silver mine production

Tonnes of silver, 2025 estimates, eight largest producers

USGS notes that silver comes mainly as a byproduct of lead-zinc, copper and gold mines, so supply depends partly on those metals. A licence owner should therefore look at the whole metal mix of a deposit. Screening ground for that mix before drilling is what satellite-based mineral detection is for: it produces exploration targets, which still need field checks and drilling. See also where silver is mined in Mexico and the largest silver mines.

▶ How mineral exploration from space works before drilling · 4:26

How to check next year’s numbers

1. Read USGS each January or February. The Mineral Commodity Summaries give country tonnages for the prior year, marked as estimates.
2. Check the unit. Natural Resources Canada put 2024 potash output at 76.1 million tonnes of potassium chloride, far above the USGS K2O figure, because the two count different things.
3. Check the nutrient. Separate rankings often get collapsed into one headline.
4. Check capacity against output. USGS put world potash capacity at 66.1 million tonnes of K2O, well above 2025 output, so a country’s output can change without new mines.
5. Check demand. USGS estimated world fertilizer use at 41.6 million tonnes of K2O and 47.8 million tonnes of P2O5 in 2025, with Asia and South America the main growth regions.

Frequently asked questions

Which country is the largest producer of fertilizer in the world?

China, for nitrogen (about 49 million tonnes) and phosphate rock (about 110 million tonnes) on 2025 USGS estimates. Canada leads potash at about 15 million tonnes K2O.

Where does most fertilizer come from?

No single country supplies it. Nitrogen comes from gas- or coal-based plants in many countries, phosphate rock mainly from China and Morocco, and potash mainly from Canada, Russia, Belarus and China.

What are the top fertilizer producing countries?

Across the three nutrients, the names that recur in the USGS top fives are China, Russia, the United States, Canada, Morocco, Belarus, Jordan, Indonesia and Germany, along with one other large Asian nitrogen producer.

Who was the largest producer of fertilizer?

The same leaders as today. In 2022, China made 43 million tonnes of nitrogen and mined 93 million tonnes of phosphate rock, and Canada mined 14.6 million tonnes of potash (USGS, 2024 edition).

Which country produces the most nitrogen fertilizer?

China, at about 49 million tonnes of nitrogen as ammonia in 2025, about three times the next producers (USGS, 2026). Not all ammonia becomes fertilizer: in the United States about 88% does.

Where is fertilizer made in the United States?

Ammonia plants cluster in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. Phosphate rock comes from Florida, Idaho, North Carolina and Utah, and potash from New Mexico and Utah (USGS, 2026).

Where does US potash come from?

Mostly imports. USGS puts net import reliance at 92% in 2025, with Canada supplying 79% of imports in 2021-24.

Which country has the most phosphate reserves?

Morocco, at about 50 billion of the world’s 73 billion tonnes (USGS, 2026).

Which country mines the most copper and silver?

Chile for copper, at about 5.3 million tonnes, and Mexico for silver, at about 6,300 tonnes, on 2025 USGS estimates.

How often are these figures updated?

USGS publishes its Mineral Commodity Summaries once a year, and each edition can revise earlier years. Figures for the latest year are estimates.