These Countries Are Fueling the Global Coal Addiction

Inexpensive and widely available, coal was the indispensable energy source during the Industrial Revolution. Over the course of the 19th century, new, large-scale applications for coal expanded to include transportation, manufacturing, and power generation. In the United States, coal use increased by nearly 1,200% between 1850 and 1880, according to the Energy Information Administration, and beginning in 1885, coal became the largest source of energy in the United States.

Now, in the era of climate change, coal has fallen out of favor in much of the world. Coal is by far the heaviest polluting fossil fuel, generating about 36% more carbon emissions than petroleum, and nearly twice as much as natural gas. According to the International Energy Agency, coal accounts for 45% of global carbon emissions and only about one-third of electricity production. 

Largely in an effort to meet international emissions reduction standards, many countries are pivoting away from coal. In some of the most developed economies in Asia and Europe, including Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, coal production has fallen by more than 50% since 2015. In Spain, a country that extracted some 3 million metric tons of coal as recently as 2017, coal production has effectively ceased in each of the last three years. Improvements in the United States have been more modest, with coal production falling about 41% over the last decade, despite a 4% uptick in 2025. 

Still, as a relatively cheap and readily available fuel source, coal remains a pillar of industrial development in some countries, and a lucrative export commodity in others. 

Using data from the Energy Institute report, 2026 Statistical Review of World Energy, Climate Crisis 247 identified the countries that produce most of the world’s coal. We ranked all countries with available data on total coal production in 2025. Population data are 2025 estimates from the World Bank and annual coal export values are from the International Trade Centre. All other supplemental data are from the Energy Institute report. 

10. Germany

• Total coal production in 2025: 86.4 million metric tons (1.0% of global coal production)
• Annual coal production growth rate, 2015-2025: -7.3% per year
• Total value of coal exports in 2025: $122 million
• Coal fired electricity production in 2025: 103.8 terawatt hours (20.5% of domestic electricity)
• Carbon dioxide emissions from energy in 2025: 557.6 million metric tons (1.6% of global emissions) 
• Carbon dioxide emissions per capita in 2025: 6.7 metric tons per person

9. Mongolia

• Total coal production in 2025: 105.5 million metric tons (1.2% of global coal production)
• Annual coal production growth rate, 2015-2025: +15.9% per year
• Total value of coal exports in 2025: $5.6 billion
• Coal fired electricity production in 2025: N/A 
• Carbon dioxide emissions from energy in 2025: N/A
• Carbon dioxide emissions per capita in 2025: N/A

8. Kazakhstan

• Total coal production in 2025: 120.5 million metric tons (1.3% of global coal production)
• Annual coal production growth rate, 2015-2025: +1.2% per year
• Total value of coal exports in 2025: $610 million
• Coal fired electricity production in 2025: 72.5 terawatt hours (58.3% of domestic electricity)
• Carbon dioxide emissions from energy in 2025: 249.2 million metric tons (0.7% of global emissions) 
• Carbon dioxide emissions per capita in 2025: 12.0 metric tons per person

7. South Africa

• Total coal production in 2025: 235.5 million metric tons (2.6% of global coal production)
• Annual coal production growth rate, 2015-2025: -0.7% per year
• Total value of coal exports in 2025: $5.5 billion
• Coal fired electricity production in 2025: 182 terawatt hours (78.8% of domestic electricity)
• Carbon dioxide emissions from energy in 2025: 446.8 million metric tons (1.2% of global emissions) 
• Carbon dioxide emissions per capita in 2025: 6.9 metric tons per person

6. Russia

• Total coal production in 2025: 429.2 million metric tons (4.7% of global coal production)
• Annual coal production growth rate, 2015-2025: +1.4% per year
• Total value of coal exports in 2025: N/A
• Coal fired electricity production in 2025: 211.2 terawatt hours (17.7% of domestic electricity)
• Carbon dioxide emissions from energy in 2025: 1.6 billion metric tons (4.6% of global emissions) 
• Carbon dioxide emissions per capita in 2025: 11.5 metric tons per person

5. Australia

• Total coal production in 2025: 431.4 million metric tons (4.8% of global coal production)
• Annual coal production growth rate, 2015-2025: -1.5% per year
• Total value of coal exports in 2025: $44 billion
• Coal fired electricity production in 2025: 122.7 terawatt hours (42.9% of domestic electricity)
• Carbon dioxide emissions from energy in 2025: 374.3 million metric tons (1.0% of global emissions) 
• Carbon dioxide emissions per capita in 2025: 13.6 metric tons per person

4. United States

• Total coal production in 2025: 483.6 million metric tons (5.3% of global coal production)
• Annual coal production growth rate, 2015-2025: -5.1% per year
• Total value of coal exports in 2025: $10 billion
• Coal fired electricity production in 2025: 804.1 terawatt hours (16.8% of domestic electricity)
• Carbon dioxide emissions from energy in 2025: 4.8 billion metric tons (13.3% of global emissions) 
• Carbon dioxide emissions per capita in 2025: 13.9 metric tons per person

3. Indonesia

• Total coal production in 2025: 790.0 million metric tons (8.7% of global coal production)
• Annual coal production growth rate, 2015-2025: +5.5% per year
• Total value of coal exports in 2025: $24 billion
• Coal fired electricity production in 2025: 233.4 terawatt hours (61.0% of domestic electricity)
• Carbon dioxide emissions from energy in 2025: 798.8 million metric tons (2.2% of global emissions) 
• Carbon dioxide emissions per capita in 2025: 2.8 metric tons per person

2. India

• Total coal production in 2025: 1.1 billion metric tons (12.0% of global coal production)
• Annual coal production growth rate, 2015-2025: +4.9% per year
• Total value of coal exports in 2025: $169 million
• Coal fired electricity production in 2025: 1,464 terawatt hours (71.2% of domestic electricity)
• Carbon dioxide emissions from energy in 2025: 3.0 billion metric tons (8.3% of global emissions) 
• Carbon dioxide emissions per capita in 2025: 2.0 metric tons per person

1. China

• Total coal production in 2025: 4.7 billion metric tons (51.5% of global coal production)
• Annual coal production growth rate, 2015-2025: +2.2% per year
• Total value of coal exports in 2025: $952 million
• Coal fired electricity production in 2025: 5,756 terawatt hours (54.4% of domestic electricity)
• Carbon dioxide emissions from energy in 2025: 11.2 billion metric tons (31.3% of global emissions) 
• Carbon dioxide emissions per capita in 2025: 8.0 metric tons per person