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Who buys Australia’s iron ore? Export destinations 2024

In 2024, Australia exported $90.8 billion of iron ore (898 million tonnes), 54.2% of the world total. China bought 83% of the total, followed by Japan (6%) and South Korea (6%). Australia was the world’s largest exporter of iron ore.

Summary

Value
$90.8billion
Tonnes
898million tonnes
Share of world total
54.2%
World rank
1st
Routes to the main destinations. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Destinations

The 20 main destinations in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD billions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
China75.7Tonnes: 756,162,761USD per tonne: $10083.4%Sea
Japan5.5Tonnes: 52,744,494USD per tonne: $1056.1%Sea
South Korea5.4Tonnes: 49,459,924USD per tonne: $1106%Sea
Taiwan1.6Tonnes: 14,488,220USD per tonne: $1091.8%Sea
Indonesia1.1Tonnes: 9,818,226USD per tonne: $1071.2%Sea
Vietnam0.86Tonnes: 9,357,092USD per tonne: $920.95%Sea
India0.29Tonnes: 3,180,914USD per tonne: $900.32%Sea
Malaysia0.25Tonnes: 2,136,633USD per tonne: $1170.28%Sea
Philippines0.02Tonnes: 143,244USD per tonne: $1100.02%Sea
Cabo Verde0.01Tonnes: 191,288USD per tonne: $720.02%Sea
Turkey0.01Tonnes: 170,511USD per tonne: $740.01%Sea
Italy0.01Tonnes: 41,355USD per tonne: $1560.01%Sea
Canada0.01Tonnes: 36,922USD per tonne: $1510.01%Sea
United States< 0.01Tonnes: 63,352USD per tonne: $380%Sea
Netherlands re-exports< 0.01Tonnes: 42,521USD per tonne: $240%Sea
New Zealand< 0.01Tonnes: 1,653USD per tonne: $1130%Sea
Gabon< 0.01Tonnes: 245USD per tonne: $820%Sea
Germany< 0.01Tonnes: 91USD per tonne: $1040%Sea
France< 0.01Tonnes: 1USD per tonne: $3,4010%Sea
South Africa< 0.01Tonnes: 10USD per tonne: $2930%Sea

Trend

Who it sells to

China has been its main destination since 2004

Value in USD billions. The five largest destinations in 2024.

  • China 75.7
  • Japan 5.5
  • South Korea 5.4
  • Taiwan 1.6
  • Indonesia 1.1

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
China0.5275.7
Japan1.35.5
South Korea0.425.4
Taiwan0.11.6
Indonesia< 0.011.1

Sources and methodology

Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.

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