5 Countries with the Largest Nickel Reserves in the World

1. Indonesia

Nickel reserves as of 2021: 21 million metric tonnes

Indonesia is one of the top 10 countries with the largest nickel reserves in the world as it had 21 million metric tonnes of nickel reserves in 2021. Unsurprisingly, the country is also the top nickel-producing country in the world at 1 million metric tonnes, a noticeable increase from its production figures of 771,000 metric tonnes in 2020. Housing around 22% of the global nickel reserves, Indonesia used to be the biggest exporter but it banned the export of nickel ores in 2020. The reasoning was to attract foreign investment in the country and has been successful to a certain extent as many Chinese companies, often in joint ventures with Indonesian corporations, have started investment projects to produce mixed hydroxide precipitate for EV battery production.

The Indonesian government has been making efforts to restrict the production of downstream materials to become a major player in the supply chains for products, especially electric vehicle batteries. As per the International Nickel Study Group, the country’s nickel production saw a growth of 41% YoY from January to July 2022. According to a report by GlobalData, a CAGR of more than 2% in production is expected from Indonesian nickel mining between 2021 to 2025.

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