Critical Materials Atlas
Method · economic complexity

What only a few countries can export

Revealed comparative advantage (Balassa) asks who is a genuinely competitive exporter of each material. Ubiquity — how few countries clear that bar — is a market-revealed strategic signal, and relatedness shows which materials the same countries tend to command together.

Some materials have many competitive exporters; a few have almost none. This measures how many countries can genuinely compete in each — a market-revealed signal of scarcity, beside the mine-concentration story.
How it’s measured

From the one complete country×material matrix we have (exports), I compute Balassa RCA (a country is a competitive exporter when its share of that material exceeds its overall export share), a robust capability score, and relatedness (do the same countries export both?). Ubiquity = how many countries clear RCA≥1: a low number means only a handful can competitively supply it.

Caveat: RCA here is over the 32-material matrix only — specialization within critical materials, not economy-wide, so small and re-export economies can surface as “competitive”, and the threshold makes ubiquity sensitive to thin flows and HS6 pooling. Mine/refine data are top-N; mine leader shown for contrast. Computed by build_complexity.py.

Materials by ubiquity — the rarest are the most strategic

Materialcompetitive exportersmined mainly inmost related materials (relatedness)
Lithium carbonate7🇦🇺 AustraliaNatural borates 0.25, Hafnium, unwrought 0.14, Germanium 0.14
Beryllium, unwrought8🇺🇸 United StatesTitanium, unwrought 0.18, Magnesium, unwrought 0.17, Tantalum, unwrought 0.15
Strontium carbonate8🇮🇷 IranFluorspar, >97% CaF2 0.27, Tungsten, unwrought 0.25, Arsenic 0.21
Phosphorus9🇨🇳 ChinaAntimony, unwrought 0.24, Titanium, unwrought 0.24, Palladium, unwrought 0.18
Ferro-niobium11🇧🇷 BrazilHafnium, unwrought 0.29, Germanium 0.29, Gallium 0.29
Magnesium, unwrought12🇨🇳 ChinaFerro-vanadium 0.38, Silicon, < 99.99% 0.30, Hafnium, unwrought 0.29
Tungsten, unwrought12🇨🇳 ChinaTantalum, unwrought 0.31, Arsenic 0.29, Platinum, unwrought 0.27
Tantalum, unwrought13🇨🇩 Congo [DRC]Titanium, unwrought 0.47, Hafnium, unwrought 0.38, Germanium 0.38
Cobalt oxides & hydroxides14🇨🇩 Congo [DRC]Arsenic 0.36, Natural borates 0.31, Tantalum, unwrought 0.29
Arsenic14🇵🇪 PeruHafnium, unwrought 0.48, Germanium 0.48, Gallium 0.48
Fluorspar, >97% CaF215🇨🇳 ChinaFeldspar 0.40, Baryte 0.28, Tantalum, unwrought 0.27
Natural borates16🇹🇷 TurkeyCobalt oxides & hydroxides 0.31, Arsenic 0.31, Magnesium, unwrought 0.25
Palladium, unwrought17🇷🇺 RussiaPlatinum, unwrought 0.50, Hafnium, unwrought 0.43, Germanium 0.43
Titanium, unwrought17🇨🇳 ChinaTantalum, unwrought 0.47, Hafnium, unwrought 0.38, Germanium 0.38
Phosphate rock18🇨🇳 ChinaFeldspar 0.16, Baryte 0.14, Magnesium, unwrought 0.11
Germanium ⛓21🇨🇳 ChinaArsenic 0.48, Palladium, unwrought 0.43, Ferro-vanadium 0.42
Gallium ⛓21🇨🇳 ChinaArsenic 0.48, Palladium, unwrought 0.43, Ferro-vanadium 0.42
Antimony, unwrought21🇨🇳 ChinaHafnium, unwrought 0.33, Germanium 0.33, Gallium 0.33
Manganese ore21🇿🇦 South AfricaFeldspar 0.24, Aluminium ores / bauxite 0.24, Fluorspar, >97% CaF2 0.19
Aluminium ores / bauxite21🇦🇺 AustraliaManganese ore 0.24, Ferro-niobium 0.19, Hafnium, unwrought 0.19
Hafnium, unwrought ⛓21🇦🇺 AustraliaArsenic 0.48, Palladium, unwrought 0.43, Ferro-vanadium 0.42
Coking coal21🇦🇺 AustraliaFerro-vanadium 0.17, Titanium, unwrought 0.14, Palladium, unwrought 0.14
Platinum, unwrought22🇿🇦 South AfricaPalladium, unwrought 0.50, Hafnium, unwrought 0.36, Germanium 0.36
Nickel, unwrought22🇮🇩 IndonesiaHafnium, unwrought 0.41, Germanium 0.41, Gallium 0.41
Ferro-vanadium24🇨🇳 ChinaHafnium, unwrought 0.42, Germanium 0.42, Gallium 0.42
Feldspar25🇹🇷 TurkeyFluorspar, >97% CaF2 0.40, Baryte 0.36, Ferro-vanadium 0.36
Silicon, < 99.99%30🇨🇳 ChinaFerro-vanadium 0.40, Hafnium, unwrought 0.33, Germanium 0.33
Natural graphite31🇨🇳 ChinaFeldspar 0.32, Silicon, < 99.99% 0.29, Helium 0.26
Refined copper cathodes33🇨🇱 ChileFerro-vanadium 0.27, Silicon, < 99.99% 0.21, Baryte 0.19
Baryte36🇮🇳 IndiaFeldspar 0.36, Silicon, < 99.99% 0.28, Fluorspar, >97% CaF2 0.28
Helium50🇺🇸 United StatesRare-earth permanent magnets 0.39, Ferro-vanadium 0.26, Silicon, < 99.99% 0.26
Rare-earth permanent magnets51🇨🇳 ChinaHelium 0.39, Natural graphite 0.25, Ferro-vanadium 0.22

The most capable exporters

Capability = the sum of 1/ubiquity over the materials a country competitively exports (RCA≥1) — it rewards commanding many materials that few others can. Leaders mix large industrial economies with smaller open / re-export economies — read this as export specialization, not industrial capability per se.

#Countrycapabilitydiversity
1🇨🇳 China1.0318
2🇩🇪 Germany0.9418
3🇷🇴 Romania0.8818
4🇩🇰 Denmark0.8515
5🇲🇾 Malaysia0.7816
6🇳🇱 Netherlands0.7414
7🇭🇺 Hungary0.6812
8🇱🇺 Luxembourg0.6812
9🇫🇷 France0.6713
10🇬🇧 United Kingdom0.6211
11🇮🇳 India0.5411
12🇸🇬 Singapore0.5410
13🇰🇷 South Korea0.5310
14🇺🇸 United States0.529
15🇮🇹 Italy0.528

⛓ gallium/germanium/hafnium share one HS6 code. Computed from flows_2024.json → complexity.json.