René Muschter
Research Expert covering Industry & Mobility
Global lead industry - statistics & facts
Lead is a chemical element that is characterized as a base post-transition metal. Australia held the world’s largest lead reserves, at some 35 million metric tons as of 2023, although China had the highest lead mine production of any country in the world that year, at 1.9 million metric tons. Prior to the recognition of lead’s toxicity in the late nineteenth century, lead was used in a variety of applications that it is no longer used for today due to health concerns. However, there are still many important end-uses for lead today, such as batteries, bullets, paints, alloys, and more.
