Lead is a global materials industry measured across mine output, refined metal, recycled feedstock, industrial use, inventories, prices and exposure outcomes. In 2024, the International Lead and Zinc Study Group recorded 4,555 thousand tonnes of mined lead content, 13,013 thousand tonnes of refined production and 12,977 thousand tonnes of refined usage worldwide. The figures below distinguish mine lead content from refined metal and separate observed market data from modeled health estimates.
Contents
- Global mining scale and geography
- Refining and recycled feedstock
- Refined lead usage and regional demand
- Market balance, inventories and prices
- U.S. releases and industrial footprint
- Exposure thresholds and measured health burden
Global mining scale and geography
The ILZSG’s annual series measures mine production as lead content, not the total mass of ore extracted. Global mined lead content moved within a relatively narrow range from 2020 through 2024:
| Year | Global mine production | Measurement |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 4,437 thousand tonnes | Lead content, observed |
| 2021 | 4,552 thousand tonnes | Lead content, observed |
| 2022 | 4,433 thousand tonnes | Lead content, observed |
| 2023 | 4,469 thousand tonnes | Lead content, observed |
| 2024 | 4,555 thousand tonnes | Lead content, up 1.9% from 2023 |
The 2024 total was the highest value in this five-year series. The same release reports 2,614 thousand tonnes of mine production outside China in 2024, up 4.2% from 2023. That comparison is useful because it shows a stronger year-over-year increase outside China than in the worldwide total, while keeping the geography explicit.
Among the named locations reported for 2024, China produced 1,941 thousand tonnes of mined lead content, down 1.0% from 2023. Australia produced 502 thousand tonnes, up 6.2%; Europe produced 453 thousand tonnes, up 1.0%; the United States produced 302 thousand tonnes, up 11.5%; Peru produced 291 thousand tonnes, up 6.7%; and Mexico produced 198 thousand tonnes, up 8.3%.
These country and regional figures are observed 2024 production values from the International Lead and Zinc Study Group’s Review of Trends in 2024: Lead. The ILZSG 2024 data are preliminary, and the reported unit is lead content.
Refining and recycled feedstock
Refined lead metal represents a different stage of the industry from mine production. Global refined output was 12,545 thousand tonnes in 2020, 13,000 thousand tonnes in 2021, 12,780 thousand tonnes in 2022, 13,241 thousand tonnes in 2023 and 13,013 thousand tonnes in 2024. The 2024 result was down 1.7% from 2023.
Secondary or recycled raw materials supplied 67.5% of global refined lead production in 2024, compared with 67% in 2023. This is a share of refined production supplied by secondary feedstock; it should not be read as a mine-production percentage or as a direct comparison between refined feedstock categories.
China produced 5,277 thousand tonnes of refined lead metal in 2024, down 7.2% from 2023. India produced 1,100 thousand tonnes, up 6.0%, while the United States produced 1,023 thousand tonnes, up 1.4%. Europe produced 1,823 thousand tonnes, up 2.1%. Refined production outside China totaled 7,736 thousand tonnes, up 2.4% from 2023.
The contrast between the global total and the outside-China total matters when reading annual change. The worldwide refined figure fell 1.7%, while the reported total excluding China rose 2.4%. The release does not provide a causal decomposition for that difference, so these figures are best treated as separate observed measures of production by geography.
Refined lead usage and regional demand
Global refined lead usage rose from 12,392 thousand tonnes in 2020 to 12,956 thousand tonnes in 2021, then reached 12,964 thousand tonnes in 2022 and 13,088 thousand tonnes in 2023. In 2024, usage was 12,977 thousand tonnes, down 0.8% from 2023.
The 2024 country and regional measures show different directions of change:
| Geography | 2024 refined lead usage | Change from 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| China | 5,390 thousand tonnes | Down 1.3% |
| United States | 1,393 thousand tonnes | Down 8.1% |
| India | 997 thousand tonnes | Up 5.5% |
| Republic of Korea | 662 thousand tonnes | Up 14.2% |
| Europe | 1,825 thousand tonnes | Down 3.3% |
| World excluding China | 7,587 thousand tonnes | Down 0.5% |
China’s reported usage was 5,390 thousand tonnes, compared with 5,277 thousand tonnes of refined production in the same year. The United States used 1,393 thousand tonnes and produced 1,023 thousand tonnes. These are production and usage measures, not trade balances for individual countries.
The Republic of Korea recorded the largest percentage increase among the named locations in this set, at 14.2%, reaching 662 thousand tonnes. India also increased, to 997 thousand tonnes. Europe and the United States moved lower, while world usage excluding China declined 0.5%.
The same ILZSG lead review reports that global refined usage declined 0.8% in 2024 and refined production declined 1.7%. Global refined supply exceeded demand by 36 thousand tonnes. Those are adjacent reported market indicators; the release does not establish that one change caused the other.
Market balance, inventories and prices
The 2024 global refined market balance was a reported supply surplus of 36 thousand tonnes. Reported global lead inventories rose by 104 thousand tonnes to 549 thousand tonnes at the end of 2024. The inventory measure covers LME, SHFE, producers, merchants and consumers, so it is broader than exchange warehouse stocks alone.
At the end of 2024, producer-reported stocks were 151 thousand tonnes and consumer-reported stocks were 103 thousand tonnes. LME-reported lead stocks were 242 thousand tonnes, up from 134 thousand tonnes in 2023, while SHFE-reported stocks were 52 thousand tonnes. These categories should not be added together without accounting for the ILZSG’s reporting framework and any category relationships.
Prices also moved differently across the two named exchanges. The 2024 average LME cash settlement price was US$2,073 per tonne, 3.1% below the 2023 average. The highest 2024 LME cash settlement price was US$2,291 per tonne on 21 May, and the lowest was US$1,905 per tonne on 6 August.
The 2024 average SHFE cash settlement price was RMB17,395 per tonne, 10.3% above 2023. LME and SHFE prices are quoted in different currencies and come from different markets, so their percentage changes can be compared as reported movements but not converted into a common price level without an exchange-rate assumption.
U.S. releases and industrial footprint
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory provides facility-reported release data, not a census of every lead emission or disposal event. EPA combines elemental lead and lead compounds in its analysis.
In 2023, metal mines reported 93% of all U.S. TRI lead releases, and almost all of those releases were disposed to land. Total U.S. TRI lead releases increased by 170 million pounds, or 33%, from 2022 to 2023. On-site lead disposal at U.S. metal mines increased by 185 million pounds over the same period.
Outside metal mining, U.S. TRI lead releases decreased by 14 million pounds, or 23%, from 2022 to 2023. EPA notes that quantities at hazardous-waste facilities can vary because those facilities manage waste from other sectors. That limitation matters when interpreting the non-mining comparison.
Air releases followed a different time pattern. U.S. TRI air releases of lead decreased by 137 thousand pounds, or 31%, from 2014 to 2023. Between 2022 and 2023, they decreased by 20,000 pounds, or 6%. The primary metals sector accounted for 36% of U.S. TRI lead released to air in 2023.
The U.S. EPA lead analysis therefore supports separate readings for total releases, on-site mine disposal and air releases. These figures describe TRI-reporting facilities and should not be presented as a complete national emissions inventory.
Exposure thresholds and measured health burden
Health statistics describe exposure and modeled burden, not the tonnage moving through the industrial supply chain. The World Health Organization reports that lead exposure was attributed to more than 3.5 million deaths globally in 2023, primarily from cardiovascular effects. It also estimated that lead exposure accounted for more than 71.5 million disability-adjusted life years worldwide in 2023. Both are modeled IHME burden estimates, not direct mortality counts.
Young children may absorb 4–5 times as much lead from an ingested dose as adults, according to the WHO evidence summary. As of January 2024, 48% of countries had legally binding controls on lead paint. These are different types of measures: one is a biological exposure estimate and the other is a policy coverage statistic.
For U.S. children ages 1–5 years, the CDC’s blood lead reference value is 3.5 micrograms per deciliter. The value is based on the 2015–2018 NHANES cycles and corresponds to the 97.5th percentile of blood lead levels in that population. CDC says the reference value identifies approximately 2.5% of U.S. children ages 1–5 years as at or above that level.
The CDC emphasizes that 3.5 micrograms per deciliter is a population-based screening reference value, not a health-based standard or toxicity threshold. It is also not a national prevalence estimate above a health threshold. Separately, CDC says blood lead levels of 45 micrograms per deciliter or greater may lead healthcare providers to recommend medication to remove lead from the body; that is a clinical action threshold, not a population outcome rate.
The WHO 2021 clinical guideline recommends identifying the exposure source and taking action when an individual’s blood lead concentration is at least 5 micrograms per deciliter. The guideline does not imply that lower exposure is safe. The WHO lead poisoning fact sheet and CDC blood lead reference value update provide the health and screening context for these measures.