Despite actions by international ban asbestos coalitions and campaigning networks, there remains a handful of countries that continue to mine chrysotile asbestos and export to other countries for producing asbestos-containing materials for export.
The majority of countries have either banned the use of asbestos via legislation or restricted usage so that in 2022, only ~12% of countries use more than 500 tonnes per year.
According to the US Geological Survey 2023, the top four countries who continue to mine chrysotile asbestos remain Russia, Kazakhstan, China and Brazil with Zimbabwe intending to increase mining activities in coming years.
| Country | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Brazil | 77,057 | 172,256 | 182,965 | 188,813 | 166,890 | 150,000 |
| China | 130,000 | 160,000 | 196,000 | 200,000 | 250,000 | 250,000 |
| Kazakhstan | 227,400 | 250,100 | 250,200 | 255,200 | 225,700 | 250,000 |
| Russia | 708,000 | 750,000 | 630,000 | 600,000 | 306,900 | 310,000 |
| Zimbabwe | 8,000 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 1,150,000 | 1,330,000 | 1,260,000 | 1,240,000 | 949,000 | 960,000 |
Table 1: Asbestos – World Production, by Country or locality (Metric tons)
Global consumption of chrysotile asbestos peaked in 1980 at approximately 5 million tonnes and has slowly declined to the latest recorded year of 2023 at 1.24 million tonnes.
In 2017, the Supreme Court of Brazil ruled that the use of asbestos was unconstitutional and that under no circumstances could any measures be enacted permitting the use of asbestos in any Brazilian jurisdiction or state.
In 2023, this decision was upheld by Supreme Court that the Federal Policy which had allowed the commercialization of asbestos was unconstitutional; as a result of this judgment, the mining, processing and export of asbestos from Brazil was banned.
To date, at least 17 states in Brazil have imposed bans on asbestos however, a full national ban has not been announced.
Read more about the chronology of asbestos bans here: International Ban Asbestos Secretariat: Chronology of Asbestos Bans and Restrictions