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Resource · Food and farming

Potash and phosphate

Potash and phosphate rock are mined minerals that supply two of the three main crop nutrients, potassium and phosphorus. Canada mines 31% of the world's potash. China mines 44% of phosphate rock. Morocco holds 68% of phosphate reserves. Since 2021, sanctions on Belarus and Chinese export curbs have kept part of the supply off world markets.

Updated October 2026 · Data from the US Geological Survey and the FAO

Bright blue potash evaporation ponds below red sandstone cliffs near Moab, Utah
Potash evaporation ponds near Moab, Utah. Photo: Orange Suede Sofa, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Potash mined, 2025
49 million t
of potash (K₂O)
Largest potash miner
31%
15 million tonnes
Largest phosphate miner
44%
110 million tonnes of rock
Phosphate reserves
68%
held by Morocco
Largest potash importer
8.3M t
of potash (K₂O), 2023

Which countries produce the most potash?

Canada mined 31% of the world's potash in 2025, most of it from Saskatchewan, followed by Russia, China and Belarus. Belarus, which mines about 12%, came under sanctions after its disputed 2020 election. The US Treasury sanctioned the state producer Belaruskali on August 9, 2021. On February 1, 2022 Lithuania stopped the transit through its port of Klaipėda, which used to carry about 90% of Belarus's potash, and in March 2022 the EU banned Belarusian potash. The US lifted its sanctions in December 2025 after Belarus freed 123 prisoners.

Laos rose from under 1% of world output in 2021 to 5% in 2025.

World map shaded by each country's share of potash mining in 2025. Canada is the lightest, then Russia, China and Belarus.

Share of world potash output, 2025

  1. Canada30.6%
  2. Russia20.4%
  3. China12.9%
  4. Belarus12.2%
  5. Germany6.1%
  6. Laos4.9%
  7. Everyone else12.9%
  • Under 1%
  • 1%–5%
  • 5%–10%
  • 10%–25%
  • Over 25%
  • No production

Which countries mine the most phosphate?

China mined 44% of the world's phosphate rock in 2025, more than the next three producers combined. China has curbed fertilizer exports since October 2021. On March 14, 2026, China ordered exporters to stop shipping phosphate fertilizers until August 31. The halt did not end on that date. As of late September 2026, China was not accepting new export declarations for these fertilizers and had not said when shipments would resume.

The Gulf normally supplies about 11% of world phosphate fertilizer exports. After the US and Israel struck Iran on February 28, 2026, fertilizer shipments through the Strait of Hormuz fell to near zero.

Who mines the world's phosphate rock

Share of world output, 2025

  1. China44%
  2. Morocco14%
  3. United States8%
  4. Russia6%
  5. Jordan5%
  6. Saudi Arabia4%
  7. Egypt2%
  8. Brazil2%
Share of the 250 million tonnes of marketable phosphate rock mined in 2025. China's figure covers large mines only. US Geological Survey, 2026.

Who has the most phosphate reserves?

Morocco holds about 68% of the world's phosphate rock reserves, with 50 billion tonnes. No other country has more than 5%. Morocco's state-controlled miner OCP earned about 114 billion dirhams in 2025, up 17% from the year before.

USGS labeled this figure 'Morocco and Western Sahara' through 2021 and 'Morocco' from 2022 onward. Western Sahara's status is disputed, and USGS gives no separate breakdown.

Who holds the world's phosphate rock

Share of reserves

  1. Morocco68%
  2. China5%
  3. Egypt4%
  4. Tunisia3%
  5. Russia3%
  6. Algeria3%
Share of the world's 73 billion tonnes of phosphate rock reserves. US Geological Survey, 2026.

Who uses the most potash?

China used 23% of the world's potash on farms in 2023, with Brazil close behind at 22%. Brazil mines almost none of its own and is the world's largest potash importer. Brazilian farms use 124 kg of potash per hectare, more than five times the world average of 23 kg.

The United States imports 92% of the potash it uses, mostly from Canada. In November 2025, Washington added both potash and phosphate rock to its list of critical minerals.

Who uses the world's potash

Share of farm use, 2023

  1. China23%
  2. Brazil22%
  3. United States11%
  4. Indonesia5%
  5. India5%
  6. Malaysia5%
Share of the 38 million tonnes of potash (K₂O) used in agriculture in 2023. FAO, via Our World in Data.

What are potash and phosphate used for?

Nearly all of both minerals go into fertilizer: about 92% of potash and 85% of phosphate rock. Every harvest removes potassium and phosphorus from the soil. A tonne of wheat grain carries away about 6.5 kg of phosphate and 5.5 kg of potash.

The remaining phosphate goes into animal feed supplements and products such as detergents. The often-quoted figure that fertilizer feeds half the world is about nitrogen alone.

What the world's phosphate rock goes into

Share of use

  • Fertilizer85%
  • Animal feed10%
  • Industry5%

How much goes into one

  • 92%of the world's potash goes into fertilizer
  • 6.5 kgof phosphate leaves the field with every tonne of wheat
  • 124 kgof potash per hectare of farmland in Brazil, five times the world average
  • 30–50%of crop yields come from fertilizer, counting nitrogen too
Phosphate: Argus, for the International Fertilizer Association. Potash: US Geological Survey. Tiles: IPNI, FAO.

Other resources

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