Algeria ranks fourth in world helium output

Algeria produced about 11m cubic metres of helium in 2025, keeping fourth place in the world, a US survey says.

ObservAlgerie reported the ranking from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) report 'Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026'. Algeria's output was stable compared with 2024, when it was also about 11m cubic metres.

The United States led the table with 81m cubic metres, about 43% of world output. Qatar was second with 63m cubic metres, followed by Russia with 18m.

Algeria's share was nearly 6% of the world total of 190m cubic metres. It remained ahead of Canada, China and Poland.

Helium is recovered when natural gas is processed, so Algeria's output is linked to its gas plants. Most of it is exported.

In 2024, France took more than a third of Algeria's helium exports and the United Kingdom about one in seven. Between 2021 and 2024, Algeria supplied about 10% of helium imports to the United States.

Helium is used to make semiconductors, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, aerospace equipment and research facilities.

The United States and Qatar together produce nearly three-quarters of world helium.

Since March, the conflict in the Middle East has disrupted supplies from Qatar, where gas facilities and exports have been affected.

The USGS estimates Algeria's helium reserves at about 1.8bn cubic metres and its geological resources at 8.2bn cubic metres.

Reserves and resources are different measures and should not be confused.

Better recovery and liquefaction equipment could raise the volumes Algeria can sell. This would depend on investment and technical conditions.