How much of global primary aluminum production did Canada supply in 2024–2025?

1. What the official Canadian numbers show and the simple math behind the share

Natural Resources Canada reports Canadian primary aluminum output at about 3.3 million tonnes in 2024 and places world primary production at roughly 72 million tonnes for 2024; dividing those figures yields a Canadian share of approximately 4.6% of global primary aluminum production in 2024 ^[1]. That percentage is a straightforward ratio of national smelter output to the global smelter total as reported by a federal ministry; it should be treated as an estimate because both national and global figures are subject to later revisions and different counting conventions ^[1].

2. Conflicting national estimates and ranking nuance

Other Canadian and industry sources report slightly different tonnages for Canada—Invest Quebec and some industry profiles cite 3.2 million tonnes (noting Quebec produces nearly 90% of Canadian output) while other industry pages list 3.1 million tonnes—so Canada’s tonnage can be read as roughly 3.1–3.3 million tonnes depending on the source and year ^{[2] [3]}. Those small differences change the percentage only marginally (for example, 3.1 Mt/72 Mt = ~4.3% and 3.2 Mt/72 Mt = ~4.4%), but they help explain why some outlets call Canada the fourth- or fifth-largest primary producer globally even while the absolute share remains in the mid-single digits ^{[2] [3]}.

3. Why precise 2025 share is not determinable from available reporting

The reporting provided gives competing Canadian production figures for the mid-2020s (3.1–3.3 Mt) but does not supply a consistent, authoritative global primary-aluminum total for 2025, so it is not possible to state Canada’s exact share for 2025 purely from these sources ^{[2] [3] [1]}. Any attempt to produce a 2025 percentage would require either an accepted global production total for 2025 (analogous to the 72 Mt figure cited for 2024 by NRCan) or an industry-standard dataset such as an updated USGS global smelter-production table; those elements are not present in the provided reporting ^{[1] [4]}.

4. Context and why a ~4–5% global share matters

A mid-single-digit share—about 4–5% of global primary production—places Canada among the handful of significant non-Chinese producers and underpins its outsized role in North American supply chains (Canada was the leading supplier of aluminum to the U.S. in 2024, accounting for a majority of U.S. imports according to trade-focused reporting) ^{[5] [6]}. The country’s reliance on hydroelectric power in Quebec gives Canadian primary aluminum a low-carbon profile relative to the global average, which is a strategic advantage for buyers focused on emissions intensity even though it doesn’t change the tonnage-based share ^{[2] [7]}.

5. Alternative figures and hidden agendas to watch for in coverage

Industry and provincial marketing materials emphasize green credentials and may round tonnages or frame Canada as a top-four producer to attract investment or policy support, while some advocacy or trade analyses highlight different numbers to press tariff or trade-policy arguments; for example, promotional pages call Canada the fourth-largest producer at 3.2 Mt while another industry site lists 3.1 Mt and ranks the country fifth—both statements can be true within their own data choices but produce slightly different headlines ^{[2] [3] [8]}. The most transparent position, grounded in the federal statistics cited, is that Canada produced about 3.3 Mt in 2024 and thus supplied roughly 4.6% of the global primary-aluminum output that year, and any 2025 percentage requires up-to-date, consistent global totals to confirm ^[1].