Natural resource value: ranking by country 2021 | Statista (2024)

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Where does the US rank in natural resources? ›

Natural resources in the United States

With a total natural resource value of 45 trillion U.S. dollars, the U.S. is the second leading country worldwide based on natural resource value after Russia. Among the main contributors to the United States' natural resource value are coal, timber, natural gas, gold, and copper.

Russia has the largest share of natural resources in the world. Due to its vast size, it covers most of the coal, timber and gold reservoirs. The total amount of natural resources found in Russia is estimated up to the worth of $75.5 trillion. The total cost of natural resources is equals to approximately $45 trillion.

The United States is rich in mineral reserves, with numerous resources found throughout the country, notably gold, copper, iron ore, lead, zinc, and many industrial minerals. The US has resources of around 43 mineral commodities.

The top mining jurisdictions in the world feature mineral-rich geology and mining-friendly governments. Leading mining countries include Australia, Chile, China, Russia, Canada, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Africa, and the United States.

China has more Rare Earth Metals, accounting for up 97% of the world's production a few years ago. The US doesn't come close. Russia has more natural resources than the two combined. However, much of these resources are in areas that are hard to extract because of severe climate conditions like permafrost.

The U.S. has abundant supplies of coal, copper, lead, iron, natural gas, timber, bauxite, and uranium. 18% of the land in the U.S. is arable land. The U.S. is a major exporter of technology, consumer goods, information systems, and foodstuffs.

By Per Magnus Nysveen. OSLO, NORWAY–The United States now holds the world's largest recoverable oil reserve base–more than Saudi Arabia or Russia–thanks to the development of unconventional resource plays.

However, some of the places that are known for having some of the richest natural topsoil in the world are: The Ukrainian and Russian Steppes: The vast grasslands of Ukraine and Russia are known for their rich black soils, called chernozems.

North America has rich and varied resources. Although it contains less than 10 percent of the world's population, it has an extraordinarily high proportion of the world's resource wealth. It produces a substantial percentage of the world's oil, iron ore, steel, copper, lead, and zinc.

Oil, Coal, and Gas

America has the world's largest reserves of coal. This abundant source of energy helped fuel U.S. growth during the Industrial Revolution.

Why does the US have so many resources? ›

For example, the United States has vast reserves of minerals such as coal, copper, gold, and iron due to its geology, which includes large deposits of sedimentary rocks formed from ancient oceans, as well as tectonic activity that has created rich mineral deposits.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is considered the world's richest country in terms of wealth in natural resources. Most of the raw mineral deposits remain untapped and are worth an estimated $24 trillion. These deposits include the world's largest coltan reserves and considerable amounts of cobalt.

The United States makes up roughly 5% of the world's population, yet consumes 25% of the world's resources.

North America benefits greatly from its fertile soils, plentiful freshwater, oil and mineral deposits, and forests. With a strong domestic and export economy focused on this abundant array of natural resources, North America has become one of the most developed regions in the world.

The African continent is no doubt the most resource-abundant continent. Resources such as gold, diamond, oil, natural gas, copper, uranium, among others are mined in different parts of the continent. Almost every country in Africa has a deposit of natural resources, Africa is also the poorest continent in the world.

Qatar: The worst offenders: the typical resident requires the resources of 6.5X what the earth can produce. United States: Each residents takes 4X the earth's resources to support the global population. UK: Consumes and produces waste at a rate 3.5 X greater than it can sustain.