How North Africa’s phosphate rock output and reserves compare

Morocco was the largest North African producer in the source

Morocco rose from a revised 35.3 million tonnes in 2024 to 36.0 million in 2025. That was about 14.4% of the rounded global total. Egypt increased by about 200,000 tonnes and Tunisia by about 20,000 tonnes. Source 1

The reserves estimate is much larger than a year of output

USGS records 50 billion tonnes of reserves for Morocco, out of a rounded world total of 73 billion. Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria were each above two billion tonnes. A reserves estimate concerns material considered economically recoverable under the assumptions used. Source 1 Source 2

Marketable phosphate rock is a defined product

The reported output refers to material upgraded to a quality suitable for uses such as phosphoric acid or elemental phosphorus production. Fertilizer manufacturing uses phosphate rock as an input, but the mine table does not measure the volume of finished fertilizer. Source 1

Annual production and reserves use different time frames

Production measures tonnes mined and processed during a year. Reserves are an estimate of a stock and can change with prices, technology and information. The world table places the four North African producers in the same source context. Source 1

Sources

• US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, phosphate rock table and notes
• US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, appendix C resource and reserve definitions