Global nickel reserves 2023, by country

As of 2023, the total nickel reserves worldwide amounted to approximately 130 million metric tons. Of that amount, Indonesia and Australia held the world's largest shares, at 55 and 24 million metric tons, respectively.

Nickel facts

Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal, as well as a base metal. It has many important industrial uses, such as in the production of stainless steel and batteries. As with any natural resource that is important to industry and technology, maintaining adequate global reserves of nickel – or otherwise searching for new deposits – is crucial.

Global nickel production

More than 25 countries worldwide are mining nickel. The global nickel production amounted to an estimated 3.6 million metric tons in 2023. As one of the countries with the largest nickel reserves, it is fitting that Indonesia is also the world's largest producer, having produced an estimated 1.8 million metric tons in 2023. Australia, on the other hand, is the world's sixth-largest nickel producer, despite having the second-largest reserves.