Trend · rank 155 of 250

Critical minerals supply constraints

Demand for lithium, copper, nickel and other minerals is rising faster than mines and infrastructure can be developed, making access to supply a constraint on national electrification, manufacturing and defence production.

Trade & InvestmentTrade, industry & supply chainsmaterialstradeclean energy

Second pass: Carried forward from the first pass, where it was Critical minerals supply. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
155of 250
Sensitivity
8.3rank 150
Breadth
2of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
32.1rank 139
Eigenvector
1.5
Betweenness
7.3
Links
13trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
17.6

Attention over three years

How much this trend is read about on Wikipedia and searched for on Google, week by week, set against the typical trend in the list so that what moves every trend at once is taken out. 100 is this trend's own three-year average. The score measures public attention, which is not the same as the strength of the force: a trend can deepen unnoticed, and a news event can lift attention for a fortnight.

Now
129
Over a year
+40%Rising
Over three years
+82%
Peak
2221 Feb 2026
Sources
Bothagreement 0.60
Coverage
1language · 55 nations

Trailing 4-week average. 100 is this trend’s three-year average.

By language

Wikipedia reading in each language edition where the trend’s pages are read enough to measure (1 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English100%104+41%

By country

Google search interest over the three years, as a share of each country’s searching. 100 is the nation where interest is highest. The search terms are English, which favours countries that search in English.

Australia

Singapore

South Korea

Canada

China

Belgium

United States

Netherlands

Germany

New Zealand

Switzerland

United Kingdom

100

95

85

73

68

46

46

43

34

34

32

32

The 12 highest of 55 nations with a reading.

By region and G20 member

Attention to this trend inside each place, from Google searches made in its countries and Wikipedia reading in the languages mostly read there, averaged where both exist. Each line compares the trend with its own past in that place; the lines do not compare places.

Regions

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
North AmericaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in English127−9%+43%+63%
EuropeGoogle in 2 countries165−15%+113%+376%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 1 country102−11%+9%+17%
South AsiaGoogle in 1 country131−26%+48%+197%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
AustraliaGoogle102−11%+9%+17%
CanadaGoogle166+45%+47%+161%
GermanyGoogle168−29%+173%+2446%
IndiaGoogle131−26%+48%+197%
United KingdomGoogle160+12%+69%+140%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English124−17%+42%+61%

Relation to each scenario

A trend relates to a scenario when it changes how likely the scenario is, how hard it lands, or is itself sharply changed by it. Each score is the median of three scores given separately by the members of the model panel.

RelationScenarioFamily
4 · HighCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
4 · HighCheap firm clean power becomes available at scale S15 ↗Energy, climate and resources
2 · LowA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA disputed transfer of power breaks effective government S05Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA major disaster disables the national economic core S07Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAn AI deployment step causes abrupt labour displacement S08Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA novel respiratory pathogen exceeds health surge capacity S10Health
0 · Not relatedA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA validated farming package raises water-efficient output S16 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA public service platform reaches inclusive operation S18 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedAffordable preventive treatments reduce chronic illness S19 ↗Health
0 · Not relatedA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health

Similarity = 0.3 × shared tags (Jaccard) + 0.3 × likeness of scenario profiles (cosine) + 0.3 × likeness of names and descriptions (TF-IDF cosine) + 0.1 if in the same capability domain, cut into seven levels at 0.12, 0.22, 0.33, 0.45, 0.58, 0.72. Shown at Moderate and above.

SimilarityTrendThemeRank
4 · HighRare earth processing concentrationTrade, industry & supply chains102
3 · ModerateForeign investment slowdown & selectivityTrade, industry & supply chains23
3 · ModerateExport controls & economic coercionTrade, industry & supply chains34
3 · ModerateTrade & investment fragmentationTrade, industry & supply chains37
3 · ModerateBatteries & energy storageTrade, industry & supply chains42
3 · ModerateEconomic security policyTrade, industry & supply chains47
3 · ModerateManufacturing overcapacityTrade, industry & supply chains51
3 · ModerateCommodity dependence & price volatilityTrade, industry & supply chains54
3 · ModerateTariff barrier normalisationTrade, industry & supply chains58
3 · ModerateCritical input supplier concentrationTrade, industry & supply chains74
3 · ModerateSolar manufacturing cost declineTrade, industry & supply chains107
3 · ModerateCarbon border adjustmentsTrade, industry & supply chains186
3 · ModerateFusion energyTrade, industry & supply chains226