More than a quarter of a century after the UK banned asbestos, the world still mines close to a million tonnes of it a year. This page gathers the global asbestos statistics in one place: how much is produced and where, which countries have banned it, how much remains in the ground as reserves, and how many people the fibre kills worldwide. The core figures come from official and peer-reviewed sources — principally the US Geological Survey's Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, the World Health Organization, the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat and the Global Burden of Disease 2021 study — and each figure is given with its data period. UK numbers appear only as one-line comparators; the detailed picture for Great Britain sits on our UK asbestos statistics page.
Key facts and figures
- ~960,000 tonnes of asbestos were mined worldwide in 2025 (estimated), up from ~949,000 tonnes in 2024.
- 306,900 tonnes made Russia the world's largest producer in 2024 — roughly a third of global output.
- ~73% of the world's ~150 million tonnes of asbestos reserves sit in Russia (about 110 million tonnes).
- 200,000+ deaths a year are attributed by the WHO to occupational asbestos exposure — over 70% of all work-related cancer deaths.
- 216,535 deaths in 2021 were linked to asbestos-attributable lung cancer and mesothelioma in the GBD 2021 analysis.
- ~70 countries have introduced national asbestos bans, with Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia added in early 2026.
- 20 years — the length of time chrysotile has been blocked from the Rotterdam Convention's hazard list, again at COP-12 in 2025.
- ~55% down — world fibre consumption has more than halved since 2000, from ~2 million tonnes to ~930,000 tonnes in 2025.
These are the latest figures available as of July 2026. The USGS refreshes its Mineral Commodity Summaries each January or February, the IBAS ban list is maintained continuously, and the WHO fact sheet and Global Burden of Disease editions are revised periodically; this page is updated when new data is released.
Which countries still produce asbestos?
World asbestos mine production was around 949,000 tonnes in 2024 and an estimated 960,000 tonnes in 2025, according to the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026. Almost all of it is chrysotile — white asbestos — and it comes from a short list of countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, China and Brazil account for the overwhelming majority of global output.
Russia is the largest producer by some distance, mining 306,900 tonnes in 2024 (roughly 32% of world output) and an estimated 310,000 tonnes in 2025. Kazakhstan produced 225,700 tonnes in 2024, estimated to rise to 250,000 tonnes in 2025, and China is estimated to have mined about 250,000 tonnes in each year. Brazil is the outlier: despite its Supreme Federal Court upholding a national asbestos ban in February 2023, the country still shipped 166,890 tonnes in 2024, almost entirely as export sales to markets in Asia.
| Producer | 2024 (tonnes) | 2025 est. (tonnes) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | 306,900 | 310,000 | World's largest producer; ~32% of output |
| China | ~250,000 | ~250,000 | Large domestic consumer as well as producer |
| Kazakhstan | 225,700 | 250,000 | Major exporter to Asia |
| Brazil | 166,890 | — | Export sales despite 2023 domestic ban |
| World total | ~949,000 | ~960,000 | USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 |
A note on precision: the country splits above are the USGS's reported and estimated figures for 2024 and 2025. Small producers and unreported output mean the individual country rows do not sum exactly to the world total, and the 2025 figures are estimates that the USGS revises in later editions.
Where are the world's asbestos reserves?
Russia holds about 110 million tonnes of the world's roughly 150 million tonnes of identified asbestos reserves — some 73% of the global total. That concentration, reported in the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, helps explain why Russia has been among the most determined opponents of international efforts to restrict the trade: the country sits on the largest single stock of a mineral that most of the developed world has already banned.
Reserves are the quantity that can be economically extracted with current technology, so the true resource in the ground is larger still. With annual world production under a million tonnes, the reported reserves represent well over a century of mining at current rates — the supply constraint on the global asbestos trade is demand and regulation, not geology.
How much asbestos is still consumed worldwide?
Worldwide consumption of raw asbestos fibre was an estimated 930,000 tonnes in 2025, according to the USGS — down by nearly 55% from around 2 million tonnes in 2000, and a fraction of the historic peak. Furuya and colleagues, in their peer-reviewed 2018 benchmark study, put global consumption at its highest at around 4.73 million tonnes in 1980. The long decline since then tracks the spread of national bans and the collapse of demand in Europe, North America and Japan.
What remains is heavily concentrated. The bulk of today's consumption is in a handful of countries in Asia and the former Soviet region — chiefly for asbestos-cement roofing and pipes, where cheap chrysotile products still undercut safer alternatives. As those markets are exactly the ones without bans, global consumption has flattened rather than fallen to zero.
| Year | Global consumption | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 (peak) | ~4.73 million tonnes | Furuya et al. 2018 |
| 2000 | ~2 million tonnes | USGS |
| 2025 (est.) | ~930,000 tonnes | USGS MCS 2026 |
How many countries have banned asbestos?
Around 70 countries have introduced national bans on asbestos, according to the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS), whose ban chronology is maintained continuously. The WHO puts the floor at “more than 50” member states with a prohibition in place. The exact count is genuinely hard to pin down — bans differ in scope and in how completely derogations have been closed — but the direction of travel is one-way: the list only grows.
The most recent additions came in early 2026, when Azerbaijan added asbestos and asbestos-containing products to its list of banned substances (with implementation from July 2027) and Saudi Arabia's cabinet approved oversight of asbestos-ban enforcement. The European Union closed its last major chrysotile derogation — for diaphragms used in electrolysis — in July 2025.
The UK sits early in that history. Its full ban came into force on 24 November 1999, making 2026 the 27th year since asbestos was prohibited in Britain. For the detail of how the UK ban was phased in, see our guide to when asbestos was banned in the UK. The great majority of countries with bans are in Europe, but the list now spans every inhabited continent.
How many people die from asbestos worldwide each year?
The World Health Organization estimates that more than 200,000 people die each year from occupational asbestos exposure — a toll it says accounts for over 70% of all deaths from work-related cancers, alongside nearly 4 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost annually. The WHO figure, set out in its asbestos fact sheet updated in September 2024, covers deaths caused by exposure at work, principally from mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis and ovarian cancer.
A separate analysis published in BMJ Public Health in 2025, drawing on the Global Burden of Disease 2021 study, put the number of deaths from asbestos-attributable thoracic cancers at 216,535 in 2021. That breaks down into 189,398 lung-cancer deaths — about 9.4% of all lung-cancer deaths worldwide — and 27,136 mesothelioma deaths, which represent 91.6% of all mesothelioma deaths globally. The near-total attribution for mesothelioma reflects how specific that cancer is to asbestos exposure.
Furuya and colleagues, using a different method, estimated around 255,000 asbestos-related deaths a year and calculated a grim rule of thumb: roughly one death for every 20 tonnes of asbestos ever produced and consumed. The estimates differ because they count different diseases and use different models, but they converge on the same order of magnitude — a global death toll in the low hundreds of thousands, every year, and still rising in countries that only recently used asbestos heavily.
| Estimate | Annual deaths | Scope | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| WHO | 200,000+ | Occupational exposure, all asbestos diseases | WHO fact sheet, Sep 2024 |
| GBD 2021 | 216,535 (2021) | Asbestos-attributable lung cancer + mesothelioma | BMJ Public Health 2025 |
| Furuya et al. | ~255,000 | All asbestos-related deaths | Furuya et al. 2018 |
By way of UK comparison — the one comparator this page draws — Great Britain recorded 2,146 mesothelioma deaths in 2024, down 109 on 2023 and below its 2011–2020 average of 2,508 a year. That national picture, including asbestos-related lung cancer and asbestosis, is covered in full on our UK asbestos statistics and asbestosis statistics pages.
Why hasn't asbestos been listed under the Rotterdam Convention?
Chrysotile asbestos has been blocked from the Rotterdam Convention's Annex III hazard list for 20 years, most recently at the 12th Conference of the Parties (COP-12) held over April and May 2025. Listing under Annex III would not ban the substance; it would simply require exporting countries to obtain “prior informed consent” from importing countries — a transparency measure. Even that has proved impossible to pass, because Rotterdam listing decisions require consensus, and a small group of producer and user states has repeatedly refused.
The scientific review committee under the Convention concluded years ago that chrysotile meets the criteria for listing. At COP-12, according to the IISD's Earth Negotiations Bulletin, the proposal was again defeated by opposition from states including Russia, Kazakhstan, India, Pakistan and Zimbabwe — a coalition of producers and heavy users. The next opportunity comes at the following COP in 2027.
Is asbestos banned in the USA?
The United States banned imports of chrysotile asbestos from May 2024, under a final rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in March 2024. It was the first US federal action to ban a form of asbestos outright, closing a long-standing regulatory gap after an earlier 1989 attempt was largely struck down by the courts. The rule phases out remaining uses — chiefly in the chlor-alkali industry — on timelines running to 2029, 2036 and 2037.
American demand had already dwindled to almost nothing. US consumption of raw asbestos fell to a record-low 50 tonnes in 2025, against a 1973 peak of 803,000 tonnes. The US therefore joins the growing list of countries where asbestos is prohibited in new products, even as the global trade continues to be supplied by Russia, Kazakhstan and a handful of others.
Frequently asked questions
Which countries still produce asbestos?
Russia, Kazakhstan, China and Brazil account for almost all of world production. Russia is the largest, mining 306,900 tonnes in 2024 and an estimated 310,000 tonnes in 2025, followed by China and Kazakhstan at roughly 250,000 tonnes each. Brazil still exported 166,890 tonnes in 2024 despite a domestic ban.
How many countries have banned asbestos?
Around 70 countries have national bans, according to the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, with the WHO counting a prohibition in more than 50 member states. Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia were the most recent additions in early 2026. The exact total varies by how a “ban” is defined, but the list grows steadily.
How many people die from asbestos worldwide each year?
The WHO attributes more than 200,000 deaths a year to occupational asbestos exposure — over 70% of all work-related cancer deaths. A GBD 2021 analysis put asbestos-attributable lung cancer and mesothelioma deaths at 216,535 in 2021, and one peer-reviewed estimate reaches around 255,000 asbestos-related deaths a year.
Is asbestos banned in the USA?
Yes, for chrysotile. The EPA banned chrysotile imports from May 2024 under a TSCA final rule, with remaining industrial uses phased out to 2029, 2036 and 2037. US consumption had already fallen to a record-low 50 tonnes in 2025, down from a 1973 peak of 803,000 tonnes.
How much asbestos does the world still mine?
Around 949,000 tonnes were mined in 2024 and an estimated 960,000 tonnes in 2025, almost all of it chrysotile (white asbestos). World fibre consumption has more than halved since 2000 but has flattened rather than reached zero, because demand persists in countries without bans.
Where are most of the world's asbestos reserves?
Russia holds about 110 million tonnes of the world's roughly 150 million tonnes of identified reserves — some 73% of the total. That is well over a century of supply at current production rates, which is why the constraint on the trade is regulation and demand rather than geology.
Related guides
- Asbestos Statistics UK: Deaths, Exposure & Key Facts
- Asbestosis Statistics UK: Deaths, Diagnoses and Trends
- Asbestos Waste Statistics UK: Tonnages and Disposal
- When was asbestos banned in the UK? The complete timeline
- The three types of asbestos: blue, brown and white explained
Sources & references
- US Geological Survey — Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Asbestos
- World Health Organization — Asbestos fact sheet (updated September 2024)
- International Ban Asbestos Secretariat — Chronology of national asbestos bans
- BMJ Public Health (2025) — Global mortality burden of lung cancer and mesothelioma attributable to occupational asbestos exposure, 1990–2021
- IISD Earth Negotiations Bulletin — Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions COPs 2025 summary
- Furuya et al. (2018) — Global Asbestos Disaster, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- US EPA — Final rule banning chrysotile asbestos under TSCA (Federal Register, 28 March 2024)
- Health and Safety Executive — Mesothelioma statistics for Great Britain (UK comparator)
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Mark writes about workplace health & safety, asbestos awareness and accredited online training for Asbestos Awareness Course, part of Online CPD Academy.