This update to ICMM's Mining Contribution Index ranks countries according to the importance of mining to the national economy.
Role of Mining in National Economies: Mining Contribution Index (5th Edition)
2 December 2020
ICMM's Mining Contribution Index (MCI) synthesises into a single number – and an associated ranking – the significance of the mining sector’s contribution to national economies. This provides an indication of the relative importance of mining to the economic life of a country.
Summary
- The MCI is designed to improve the understanding of the role of mining in national economies, and illustrate the importance of good mineral resource governance in ensuring that mineral wealth translates into broad-based economic and social progress.
- The majority of countries that rank highly on the fifth MCI continue to be mining dependent countries. This has remained the case across the previous editions of the MCI and across commodity cycles, demonstrating the sustained essentiality of responsible mining practices.
- Suriname and the Democratic Republic of the Congo remain the top ranked countries overall. Across all five editions of the MCI, the top 25 remains dominated by low and middle-income economies.
- This year’s MCI ranks 183 countries from across the world and saw seven new entrants to the top ranked 25 countries. As a result, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Dominican Republic, Liberia, Armenia and Mauritania dropped out of the top 25. These countries have all seen an increase of their GDP which leads to a decline in the production value and/or minerals rents as a percentage of GDP.
- Six of the seven countries that dropped out of the top 25 in this edition were African, a contrast to the increase in African countries within the top 25 in the previous edition. These changes were due to a recovery in gross domestic product (GDP) across the continent between 2016 and 2018.
- 84% of the top 25 ranked countries are rated as weak, poor, or failing in NRGI’s Resource Governance Index. This suggests that there is scope to improve practices that can transform the economic contribution from mining in these countries. In low- and middle-income mining dependent countries, responsible mining practices and effective resource mineral governance can be transformative, leading to substantial reductions in levels of poverty and overall improvements in social wellbeing.
Past Editions


Role of Mining in National Economies: Mining Contribution Index (3rd Edition)
This edition shows the significant contribution of mining and metals to national economies and provides an update to ICMM's Mining Contribution Index.

Role of Mining in National Economies: Mining Contribution Index (2nd Edition)
This edition shows the significant contribution of mining and metals to national economies and provides an update to ICMM's Mining Contribution Index.

Role of Mining in National Economies: Mining Contribution Index (1st Edition)
This report looks at the contribution of mining and metals to national economies.