ASM, country by country
Sort and filter the best-available country estimates, then read deeper profiles for the major producers. The colour dot flags how solid each country’s data is, many are still mostly gaps.
Reading the table
Click a column heading to sort; filter by region or search for a mineral. “Women” is the estimated female share of the workforce, and the long run of dashes is the point: most countries have no published figure at all. The data dot grades how much fieldwork exists: studied, partial, sparse.
Workforce figures are dated, methodologically mixed estimates compiled from national studies, IGF, IPIS, planetGOLD, USGS and the World Bank/Pact Delve profiles. Treat them as orders of magnitude, not precise counts. Numbers also depend on what is counted: informal-only versus all ASM, one mineral versus all, miners versus dependents (which is why national totals can differ several-fold between sources). A dash means no usable published figure; *Sierra Leone shows broader livelihoods, not just direct diggers.
35 countries
| Country↕ | Region | Est. workforce↓ | Key minerals | Women↕ | Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | Asia | ~15M | Development minerals, coal, gems | — | Partial |
| China | Asia | ~9M | Gold, coal, development minerals | — | Sparse |
| DR Congo | Africa | ~2M | Gold, cobalt, 3T, diamonds | 24% | Studied |
| Sudan | Africa | ~2M | Gold | — | Partial |
| Nigeria | Africa | ~2M | Gold, lithium, gemstones, lead, tin | — | Sparse |
| Tanzania | Africa | ~1.5M | Gold, gemstones, tanzanite | 30% | Studied |
| Ghana | Africa | ~1–1.5M | Gold ("galamsey"), diamonds | 45% | Studied |
| Ethiopia | Africa | ~1.3M | Gold, gemstones, tantalum | — | Sparse |
| Burkina Faso | Africa | ~430k–1.3M | Gold | 45% | Partial |
| Mali | Africa | ~400k–1M | Gold ("orpaillage") | 50% | Partial |
| Indonesia | Asia | ~1M | Gold, tin | — | Partial |
| Zimbabwe | Africa | ~1M | Gold, lithium, chrome, diamonds | 10% | Partial |
| Madagascar | Africa | ~500k | Gold, sapphire, mica | — | Partial |
| Peru | Latin America | ~500k | Gold | — | Studied |
| Venezuela | Latin America | ~500k | Gold (Orinoco Mining Arc) | — | Sparse |
| Uganda | Africa | ~400–600k | Gold | — | Partial |
| Niger | Africa | ~450k | Gold, salt | — | Sparse |
| Brazil | Latin America | ~400k | Gold ("garimpo"), gems, tantalum | — | Partial |
| Philippines | Asia | ~300–500k | Gold | — | Partial |
| Colombia | Latin America | ~350k | Gold, emeralds, coal | — | Partial |
| Myanmar | Asia | ~300k | Jade, heavy rare earths, tin, gold | — | Sparse |
| Sierra Leone | Africa | ~300k* | Diamonds, gold | — | Partial |
| Guinea | Africa | ~245k | Gold, diamonds | — | Partial |
| Kenya | Africa | ~140k | Gold, gemstones, construction | — | Partial |
| Bolivia | Latin America | ~130k | Tin, gold, zinc, silver | — | Partial |
| Guyana | Latin America | ~90k | Gold, diamonds | — | Sparse |
| Rwanda | Africa | ~85k | 3T (tin, tantalum, tungsten) | — | Partial |
| Central African Rep. | Africa | ~80k | Diamonds, gold | — | Sparse |
| Mongolia | Asia | ~40–60k | Gold, coal, fluorspar | 35% | Studied |
| Mozambique | Africa | ~60k | Gold, ruby, graphite | — | Sparse |
| PNG | Asia | ~50–60k | Gold (alluvial) | — | Sparse |
| Senegal | Africa | ~33k | Gold (orpaillage) | — | Sparse |
| Suriname | Latin America | ~20k | Gold | — | Sparse |
| Ecuador | Latin America | — | Gold | — | Sparse |
| Cameroon | Africa | — | Gold | — | Sparse |
Country spotlights
Four of the most active ASM economies, in brief.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The DRC is the world’s reference case for ASM and supply chains. Gold employs the most diggers in the east, while the south-east Copperbelt supplies the artisanal cobalt the battery industry depends on. By law, artisanal mining is meant to take place in designated zones d’exploitation artisanale (ZEA), by Congolese nationals in cooperatives, but most activity runs ahead of the paperwork.
In 2025 the DRC banned then quota-capped all cobalt exports and made the state firm EGC the sole legal buyer of artisanal cobalt, shipping its first traceable batch in November. It is also where most traceability schemes were first tried, from iTSCI tagging to the OECD guidance. See critical minerals & the energy transition →
Ghana
Record gold prices made Ghana’s artisanal sector central to the economy and a political flashpoint. The state GoldBod monopoly now aggregates and exports almost all artisanal gold, while the NAIMOS task force runs a crackdown on illegal "galamsey" mining blamed for polluting around 60% of the country’s water bodies.
Sudan
Even through civil war, Sudan posted record official gold output in 2025 (excluding areas held by the Rapid Support Forces). Gold is widely described as the leading financier of both warring parties, with most smuggled output flowing to the UAE.
Tanzania
Tanzania mixes gold with an unusually rich gemstone sector, including tanzanite, found nowhere else. Reforms since the 2010 Mining Act and the 2017–2019 changes pushed local content, formal buying centres and a bigger state role, making it a leading test of whether formalisation can actually raise miners’ incomes.