Zinc: Criticality
Plentiful enough that the EU does not list it
What this tab covers How exposed economies are to a supply disruption: the EU, US and India listings, the concentration score, and a quantified exposure for the US, EU, India, China, Japan, Latin America, the Middle East and Australia. Where the EU scored it, a chart of supply risk against economic importance, with import reliance, recycling input and substitutes.Exposure by region
| Region | Exposure | Share of world output | Share of world imports | Share of world exports | Net trade (US$) | On own critical list | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | Medium | 6.2% | 7.3% | 6.7% | −$289.4 m | Yes | Mined about 670 kt in 2025 but refined only 220 kt, so it exports concentrate and has 73% net import reliance for refined zinc, mainly supplied by Canada (57% of refined imports in 2021-24); zinc is on the 2025 US critical minerals list (USGS 2026). |
| EU | High | 4.4% | 30.1% | 26.7% | −$1.47 bn | No | Zinc is not on the 2023 EU critical or strategic list; import reliance is 56% at the mining stage and 0% at refining, and the end-of-life recycling input rate is 34% (EU CRM 2023); Spain and the Netherlands each hold about 9% of world refined exports by value (UN Comtrade 2024). |
| India | Low | 7.0% | 2.3% | 2.8% | +$70.2 m | No | Mined about 870 kt in 2025, fifth in the world (USGS), and is broadly self-sufficient in refined zinc through Hindustan Zinc, which held about 77% of the domestic primary market in FY2025 (HZL IR FY2024-25); zinc is not on India's 2023 critical minerals list. |
| China | Medium | 32.2% | 23.2% | 0.3% | −$5.71 bn | No | Largest miner (4.1 Mt of 13 Mt in 2025, USGS) and refiner, yet still imports 36% of world concentrate and 11% of world refined zinc by value (UN Comtrade 2024). |
| Japan | High | 0.0% | 3.0% | 1.6% | −$390.4 m | No | Has no listed zinc mine output (USGS) and runs smelters on imported concentrate, taking 6% of world concentrate imports by value in 2024 (UN Comtrade). |
| Latin America | Low | 25.2% | 3.1% | 22.7% | +$4.36 bn | no list | Peru (1.5 Mt), Mexico (780 kt) and Bolivia (500 kt) mined about 21% of world zinc in 2025 (USGS); Peru and Bolivia supplied 33% of world concentrate exports by value in 2024 (UN Comtrade). |
| Middle East | Medium | 2.6% | 1.0% | 0.5% | −$133.1 m | no list | No Middle East country is among USGS's listed zinc mine producers; Turkey, at the region's edge, supplied 18% of US concentrate imports in 2021-24 (USGS) and took 6.7% of world refined zinc imports by value in 2024 (UN Comtrade). |
| Australia | Low | 8.9% | 1.1% | 11.5% | +$2.33 bn | No | Mined about 1.1 Mt in 2025 and holds 64 Mt of reserves by USGS count (19 Mt JORC-compliant), supplying 15% of world concentrate exports and 9% of refined exports by value in 2024 (USGS 2026; UN Comtrade). |
Zinc is not scarce. The EU scores its supply risk at only 0.2 and economic importance at 4.8, and does not list it as critical. EU import reliance is 56% at the mining stage but nil for refined metal. The US relied on imports for 73% of its refined zinc in 2025. The US 2025 list includes zinc; India's 2023 list does not. Zinc matters more as a host: germanium, indium and cadmium depend on it. Aluminium, magnesium alloys, plastics and paint can replace zinc in many uses.
EU 2023 Not critical US 2025 list Yes India 2023 list No Production HHI 1,429 unconcentratedEU 2023 assessment
Chart: EU 2023 criticality: supply risk against economic importance
Each dot is a material assessed by the EU in 2023. The shaded corner is the critical zone (supply risk ≥ 1.0, economic importance ≥ 2.8). Zinc: supply risk 0.2, economic importance 4.8. EU import reliance, extraction 56% EU import reliance, processing 0% EU recycling input rate 34% US net import reliance, 2025 73% share of apparent consumptionSubstitutes
Aluminium and plastics for galvanised sheet in cars; aluminium alloys, cadmium, paint and plastic coatings for zinc coatings; aluminium and magnesium alloys for zinc die castings