Tonnes of Steel Produced This Year
CURRENT TOTAL
Live Counter Notable Facts
(Data shown in the table is for 2025. Counter shows current estimate)
Annual Steel Production
Per Second Rate
Energy Consumed
Understanding Tonnes of Steel Produced This Year
This counter tracks global crude steel production in real-time, representing one of the world's most important industrial outputs. Steel is fundamental to modern civilization, used in construction, infrastructure, transportation, and countless other applications.
Global crude steel production totaled 1,882.6 million tonnes in 2024 for a small decrease of 0.8% over 2023. Despite regional variations, steel production remains near record levels as demand from construction, automotive, and renewable energy sectors continues.
Steel production is energy-intensive and has significant environmental impacts. The industry is responsible for 7-9% of global CO2 emissions, consuming vast amounts of coal, iron ore, and other resources while generating substantial waste including slag and emissions.
Global Steel Production Overview
- China dominates global steel production with over 1 billion tonnes annually, accounting for 54% of world production. This is more than the next 10 largest producing countries combined, reflecting China's massive infrastructure and construction sectors.
- According to worldsteel, 1,326.4 million tonnes of the world's steel was produced in basic oxygen furnaces (BOFs) in 2024 versus 549.0 million tonnes in electric furnaces (EFs), showing the continued dominance of primary production methods.
- Regional production patterns show growth in some areas and decline in others: Asia produced 1,352.4 million tonnes, EU-27 produced 129.5 million tonnes, while North America and CIS regions saw production decreases.
- The steel industry consumed 20.99 GJ of energy per tonne of crude steel cast in 2022, with 97.65% of raw materials converted into steel products or co-products, demonstrating improving efficiency despite massive scale.
Steel Production Terminology
- Crude Steel: Steel in its first solid state after melting, before rolling or processing
- Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF): Primary steelmaking using iron ore and coal
- Electric Arc Furnace (EAF): Secondary steelmaking primarily using recycled steel
- Direct Reduced Iron (DRI): Iron ore reduced without melting, used in steelmaking
Top Steel Producing Countries (2024)
- China: 1,005.1 million tonnes (53.4%)
- India: 140.7 million tonnes (7.5%)
- Japan: 84.0 million tonnes (4.5%)
- United States: 79.5 million tonnes (4.2%)
- Russia: 71.5 million tonnes (3.8%)
- South Korea: 63.5 million tonnes (3.4%)
- Rest of World: 438.3 million tonnes (23.2%)
Steel Production Methods
- Basic Oxygen Furnace: 70.5% (1,326 Mt)
- Electric Arc Furnace: 29.2% (549 Mt)
- Open Hearth: <0.3% (phasing out)
- Production uses 30% recycled content average
Resource Consumption
- Iron ore: 2.6 billion tonnes annually
- Coking coal: 1.1 billion tonnes
- Energy: 39.4 exajoules (7% of global)
- Water: 196 billion cubic meters
- CO2 emissions: 3.6 billion tonnes
Data Sources and References
Methodology and Data Collection
Steel production data is collected from national steel associations and compiled by worldsteel, representing over 85% of global steel production. Data includes all crude steel produced regardless of production method.
The real-time counter applies a production rate of 59.6 tonnes per second based on annual global crude steel production of approximately 1.88 billion tonnes, adjusted for maintenance schedules and seasonal demand patterns.
Frequently Asked QuestionsAbout Tonnes of Steel Produced This Year
This counter provides highly accurate estimates based on World Steel Association (worldsteel) data, which tracks over 85% of global production. Our estimates align closely with official monthly and annual production reports.
Our primary sources include the World Steel Association (worldsteel), national steel associations, and major producer reports. Worldsteel provides comprehensive production statistics from member companies representing the majority of global output.
Steel mills operate continuously worldwide. With approximately 1.88 billion tonnes produced annually, that equals about 59.6 tonnes every second—enough steel for about 200 cars per second, powering construction, infrastructure, and manufacturing.
Approximately 1.88 billion tonnes of crude steel are produced annually. China dominates with 54% of global production (over 1 billion tonnes), more than the next 10 countries combined. India and Japan are distant second and third.
Steel production accounts for 7-9% of global CO2 emissions and consumes 21 GJ of energy per tonne. The industry is transitioning to cleaner methods including hydrogen-based reduction and increased recycling, which uses 75% less energy.