The European Union's import dependence reaches 90% for rare materials alone.

Omissions

• No source located explicitly publishes a 90% import-dependence figure for rare earths/rare materials; the figure appears to be a rounded rhetorical approximation rather than a published statistic.
• European Commission data indicate dependence on heavy rare earth elements is total in terms of supply origin (China provides 100% of the EU's supply), i.e. potentially higher than the 90% quoted.
• The 'roughly 60%' overall critical raw materials figure is a commonly used Commission estimate, but independent analysis (Istituto Affari Internazionali) puts the EU's imported share of critical raw materials demand at about 80%, so the 60% may understate overall CRM dependence.
• Sources describing 2025 trade data were published after the 21 October 2026 session date only in the sense of later updates; the underlying data periods (2024–2025) were available before the session.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Commission — Critical raw materials (DG GROW)"For example, China provides 100 % of the EU's supply of heavy rare earth elements (REE), Turkey provides 99% of the EU's supply of boron, and South Africa ..."
• PrimaryEuropean Commission — European Critical Raw Materials Act"The EU is heavily dependent on imports of critical raw materials from third countries. ... of the rare earths used for permanent magnets are refined in China."
• PrimaryEurostat — Statistics Explained: International trade in critical raw materials"The EU is heavily dependent on imports of certain raw materials. In most ..." and, on rare earth elements: "Measured in value, in 2025, the top 3 origins of REE+ imports, accounted for two-thirds of EU imports. Measured in weight the share of the top 3 was 96%."
• SecondaryIstituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) — Europe's Dependence on Critical Raw Materials"The EU still imports 80 per cent of its demand for critical raw materials (CRMs) however. A considerable share originates in China, raising ..."