This is a list of prices of chemical elements. Listed here are mainly average market prices for bulk trade of commodities. Data on elements' abundance in Earth's crust is added for comparison.

, the most expensive non-synthetic element by mass is rhodium, and by volume, iridium. It is followed by rhodium, caesium, iridium and palladium by mass and iridium, gold and platinum by volume. Carbon in the form of diamond can be more expensive than rhodium. Per-kilogram prices of some synthetic radioisotopes range to trillions of dollars. While the difficulty of obtaining macroscopic samples of synthetic elements in part explains their high value, there has been interest in converting base metals to gold (chrysopoeia) since ancient times, but only deeper understanding of nuclear physics has allowed the actual production of a tiny amount of gold from other elements for research purposes as demonstrated by Glenn Seaborg. However, both this and other routes of synthesis of precious metals via nuclear reactions is orders of magnitude removed from economic viability.

Chlorine, sulfur and carbon (as coal) are cheapest by mass. Hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and chlorine are cheapest by volume at atmospheric pressure.

When there is no public data on the element in its pure form, price of a compound is used, per mass of element contained. This implicitly puts the value of compounds' other constituents, and the cost of extraction of the element, at zero. For elements whose radiological properties are important, individual isotopes and isomers are listed. The price listing for radioisotopes is not exhaustive.

Chart A pink background means that the element is significantly radioactive.https://www.thoughtco.com/list-of-radioactive-elements-608644

Bismuth is not highlighted because its radioactivity is considered negligible here. (Bismuth is stable enough to be used for the production of cosmetics.)

Z Symbol Name Density Abundance and total mass in Earth's crust Price Year Source Notes USD/kg USD/L 1 H Hydrogen 0.00008988 1400 () 2012 DOE Hydrogen 1 2H (D) Deuterium 0.0001667 2020 CIL 2 He Helium 0.0001785 0.008 () 2018 USGS MCS 3 Li Lithium 0.534 20 () – – 2020 SMM 4 Be Beryllium 1.85 2.8 () 2020 ISE 2020 5 B Boron 2.34 10 () 2019 CEIC Data 6 C Carbon 2.267 200 () 2018 EIA Coal 7 N Nitrogen 0.0012506 19 () 2001 Hypertextbook 8 O Oxygen 0.001429 461000 () 2001 Hypertextbook 9 F Fluorine 0.001696 585 () – – 2017 Echemi 10 Ne Neon 0.0008999 0.005 () 1999 Ullmann 11 Na Sodium 0.971 23600 () – – 2020 SMM 12 Mg Magnesium 1.738 23300 () 2019 Preismonitor 13 Al Aluminium 2.698 82300 () 2019 Preismonitor 14 Si Silicon 2.3296 282000 () 2019 Preismonitor 15 P Phosphorus 1.82 1050 () 2019 CEIC Data 16 S Sulfur 2.067 350 () 2019 CEIC Data 17 Cl Chlorine 0.003214 145 () 2013 CnAgri 18 Ar Argon 0.0017837 3.5 () 2019 UNLV 19 K Potassium 0.862 20900 () – – 2020 SMM 20 Ca Calcium 1.54 41500 () – – 2020 SMM 21 Sc Scandium 2.989 22 () 2020 ISE 2020 22 Ti Titanium 4.54 5650 () – – 2020 SMM 23 V Vanadium 6.11 120 () – – 2020 SMM 24 Cr Chromium 7.15 102 () 2019 Preismonitor 25 Mn Manganese 7.44 950 () 2019 Preismonitor 26 Fe Iron 7.874 56300 () 2020 SMM 27 Co Cobalt 8.86 25 () 2019 Preismonitor 28 Ni Nickel 8.912 84 () 2019 Preismonitor 29 Cu Copper 8.96 60 () 2019 Preismonitor 30 Zn Zinc 7.134 70 () 2019 Preismonitor 31 Ga Gallium 5.907 19 () 2019 Preismonitor 32 Ge Germanium 5.323 1.5 () – – 2020 SMM 33 As Arsenic 5.776 1.8 () – – 2020 SMM 34 Se Selenium 4.809 0.05 () 2019 Preismonitor 35 Br Bromine 3.122 2.4 () 2019 CEIC Data 36 Kr Krypton 0.003733 () 1999 Ullmann 37 Rb Rubidium 1.532 90 () 2018 USGS MCS 38 Sr Strontium 2.64 370 () – – 2019 ISE 2019 39 Y Yttrium 4.469 33 () 2019 Preismonitor 40 Zr Zirconium 6.506 165 () – – 2020 SMM 41 Nb Niobium 8.57 20 () – – 2020 SMM 42 Mo Molybdenum 10.22 1.2 () 2019 Preismonitor 43 Tc Technetium 11.5 () 2004 CRC Handbook 43 99mTc Technetium-99m 11.5 2008 NRC 44 Ru Ruthenium 12.37 0.001 () – – 2020 SMM 45 Rh Rhodium 12.41 0.001 () 2019 Preismonitor 46 Pd Palladium 12.02 0.015 () 2019 Preismonitor 47 Ag Silver 10.501 0.075 () 2019 Preismonitor 48 Cd Cadmium 8.69 0.159 () 2019 Preismonitor 49 In Indium 7.31 0.25 () 2019 Preismonitor 50 Sn Tin 7.287 2.3 () 2019 Preismonitor 51 Sb Antimony 6.685 0.2 () 2019 Preismonitor 52 Te Tellurium 6.232 0.001 () 2019 Preismonitor 53 I Iodine 4.93 0.45 () 2019 Industrial Minerals 54 Xe Xenon 0.005887 () 1999 Ullmann 55 Cs Caesium 1.873 3 () 2018 USGS MCS 56 Ba Barium 3.594 425 () – – 2016 USGS MYB 2016 57 La Lanthanum 6.145 39 () – – 2020 SMM 58 Ce Cerium 6.77 66.5 () – – 2020 SMM 59 Pr Praseodymium 6.773 9.2 () 2019 Preismonitor 60 Nd Neodymium 7.007 41.5 () 2019 Preismonitor 61 147Pm Promethium-147 7.26 2003 Radiochemistry Society 62 Sm Samarium 7.52 7.05 () 2019 Preismonitor 63 Eu Europium 5.243 2 () 2020 ISE 2020 64 Gd Gadolinium 7.895 6.2 () 2020 ISE 2020 65 Tb Terbium 8.229 1.2 () 2019 Preismonitor 66 Dy Dysprosium 8.55 5.2 () 2019 Preismonitor 67 Ho Holmium 8.795 1.3 () 2020 ISE 2020 68 Er Erbium 9.066 3.5 () 2020 ISE 2020 69 Tm Thulium 9.321 0.52 () 2003 IMAR 70 Yb Ytterbium 6.965 3.2 () 2020 ISE 2020 71 Lu Lutetium 9.84 0.8 () 2020 ISE 2020 72 Hf Hafnium 13.31 3 () 2017 USGS MCS 73 Ta Tantalum 16.654 2 () – – 2019 ISE 2019 74 W Tungsten 19.25 1.3 () 2019 Preismonitor 75 Re Rhenium 21.02 () – – 2020 SMM 76 Os Osmium 22.61 0.002 () 2025 elementsales.com 77 Ir Iridium 22.56 0.001 () 2025 Umicore 78 Pt Platinum 21.46 0.005 () 2019 Preismonitor 79 Au Gold 19.282 0.004 () 2024 London gold fix 80 Hg Mercury 13.5336 0.085 () 2017 USGS MCS 81 Tl Thallium 11.85 0.85 () 2017 USGS MCS 82 Pb Lead 11.342 14 () 2019 Preismonitor 83 Bi Bismuth 9.807 0.009 () 2019 Preismonitor 84 209Po Polonium-209 9.32 2004 CRC Handbook (ORNL) 85 At Astatine 7 () Not traded. 86 Rn Radon 0.00973 () Not traded. 87 Fr Francium 1.87 () Not traded. 88 Ra Radium 5.5 () Negative price. 89 225Ac Actinium-225 10.07 2004 CRC Handbook (ORNL) 90 Th Thorium 11.72 9.6 () 2010 USGS MYB 2012 91 Pa Protactinium 15.37 () No reliable price available. 92 U Uranium 18.95 2.7 () 2018 EIA Uranium Marketing 93 Np Neptunium 20.45 () 2003 Pomona 94 239Pu Plutonium-239 19.84 2019 DOE OSTI 95 241Am Americium-241 13.69 1998 NWA 95 243Am Americium-243 13.69 2004 CRC Handbook (ORNL) 96 244Cm Curium-244 13.51 2004 CRC Handbook (ORNL) 96 248Cm Curium-248 13.51 2004 CRC Handbook (ORNL) 97 249Bk Berkelium-249 14.79 2004 CRC Handbook (ORNL) 98 249Cf Californium-249 15.1 2004 CRC Handbook (ORNL) 98 252Cf Californium-252 15.1 2004 CRC Handbook (ORNL) 99 Es Einsteinium 8.84 Not traded. 100 Fm Fermium Not traded. 101 Md Mendelevium Not traded. 102 No Nobelium Not traded. 103 Lr Lawrencium Not traded. 104 Rf Rutherfordium Not traded. 105 Db Dubnium Not traded. 106 Sg Seaborgium Not traded. 107 Bh Bohrium Not traded. 108 Hs Hassium Not traded. 109 Mt Meitnerium Not traded. 110 Ds Darmstadtium Not traded. 111 Rg Roentgenium Not traded. 112 Cn Copernicium Not traded. 113 Nh Nihonium Not traded. 114 Fl Flerovium Not traded. 115 Mc Moscovium Not traded. 116 Lv Livermorium Not traded. 117 Ts Tennessine Not traded. 118 Og Oganesson Not traded.

See also 2000s commodities boom Precious metal

Notes

References