In the last 30 years, almost everybody in Bangladesh gained access to basic electricity

Global cement production grew rapidly through the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. In the decade from 2003 to 2013 alone, production doubled from 2 to 4 billion tonnes.

But, as you can see in the chart, this growth has stalled in the last 10 years. There has been some variation from year to year, but overall, global production has stayed around 4 billion tonnes. This data comes from the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

China was a significant driver of global growth in the 1990s and 2000s but has also reached a plateau in production. It now produces more than half of the world’s cement.

Cement production makes up around 7% of global CO 2 emissions.

Explore global trends in other metals and minerals in our data explorer →