Ren茅 Muschter
Research Expert covering Industry & Mobility
Global cement industry - statistics & facts
Cement is the essential binding agent in concrete, the world's most widely used construction material.聽Global cement production has grown substantially over the past three decades, reaching an estimated 3.8 billion metric tons in 2025. While overall output has trended downward slightly from a recent peak, regional demand growth forecasts diverge sharply through 2030: Sub-Saharan Africa and India are projected to record the strongest gains, while East Asia faces a considerable expected decline.
China leads, but stagnation sets in
China has long been the largest cement producer by an enormous margin, producing an estimated 1.7 billion metric tons in 2025, nearly four times the output of second-ranked India at 470 million metric tons. However, China's cement output has been on a downward trajectory since its mid-2010s peak, and the decline accelerated sharply, with production looking to decline further in 2025. Vietnam surpassed the United States to rank as the world's third-largest producer in 2025, driven by strong output growth in Southeast Asia. Switzerland-headquartered Holcim led the field in global revenue rankings for 2024, illustrating the continued influence of Western multinationals alongside Asian players.
Decarbonization moves from pledge to action
Due to the extreme heat required to produce clinker, the cement sector is one of the largest industrial emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2). Global CO2 emissions from cement reached approximately 1.47 billion metric tons in 2024, a figure that more than doubled since the turn of the century. Nevertheless, emissions have declined since their peak of about 1.7 billion metric tons in 2021. In Europe, regulatory pressure intensified as the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) entered a key phase: from January 2026, free carbon allocations for the EU cement industry began to be reduced as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) introduced full financial obligations for cement importers. On the technology side, 2025 marked a historic milestone when Heidelberg Materials commissioned its industrial-scale carbon capture facility at Brevik, Norway, the first of its kind in the cement sector, with a capacity to capture an estimated 400,000 metric tons of CO2 per year. These developments suggest the industry's transition from commitment to action is well underway, though the financial and logistical scale of the challenge remains considerable.聽
