Global proven coal reserves by country 2020

The United States is the country with the world’s largest proven coal reserves. As of 2020, coal reserves in the country amounted to nearly 248.9 billion metric tons. Russia ranked second, having proved coal reserves of 162.2 billion metric tons. These figures include anthracite, bituminous and sub-bituminous coal, and lignite.

Global coal reserves

Proven coal reserves are quantities of coal that are confirmed by geological and engineering information and that can be extracted in the future under current economic and operating conditions. In 2020, the amount of total global proved reserves of coal amounted to around 1.07 trillion metric tons. Anthracite and bituminous coal are the most common types to be found.

Coal use in the U.S.

The U.S. accounts for a 23 percent share of the global proved coal reserves. However, despite holding the world's largest reserves, coal energy consumption in the U.S. has declined more or less consistently over the past decade. In 2020, coal consumption for electricity generation reached 436.52 million short tons. This was less than half the amount used in the late 2000's when consumption had exceeded one billion short tons per annum.