- China accounts for over half of global coal production.
- Just six countries produce nearly 90% of the world’s coal.
- Asia dominates both total output and recent production growth.
China produces more coal than all nations combined.
According to the 2025 Statistical Review of World Energy, China produced 4.78 billion tonnes of coal in 2024, accounting for 51.7% of the global total.
Coal production is also highly concentrated beyond China. The top six producing countries, including India, Indonesia, and the U.S., together account for 87% of total supply.
…
India ranks second at just over 1 billion tonnes, but its 11.7% share is far behind China’s majority.
The top six is rounded out by Indonesia (9.0%), the United States (5.0%), Australia (5.0%), and Russia (4.6%), after which production drops off sharply.
…
This is not about the people. Key coal-based industries remain central to China’s economy, including coal-to-chemicals, and coal-based hydrogen among others. Among these industries are steel, cement, concrete, of which China produces massive overcapacity no one needs. It is also noteworthy that these ‘new’ coal-based hydrogens are often framed as green transition strategies (e.g., as ‘green steel’), but in reality that’s often just rebrand of carbon-emitting energy sources rather than true transformation.
According to the Chinese Communist Party’s recently released 15th five-year plan: compared to the 14th five-year plan, China’s goals for non-fossil energy additions would see China’s annual green energy additions fall by more than half in the next five years, while at the same time, fossil fuel energy consumption would increase by 8-10%.
So this is not about ‘China bad’ but rather an objective fact: China is not on track to meet its 2060 carbon neutrality goal, according to climate think tank, Carbon Action Tracker.
Thanks for correcting me