Lithium price history, 2012 to 2026

Lithium metal, 99% battery grade averaged $156,809/t in July 2026, +103% over twelve months and +50% over ten years. The nominal all-time high was $490,008/t in April 2022; in 2024 dollars the real peak was $532,694/t in April 2022. Monthly averages, IMF PCPS.

Lithium metal, 99% battery grade

Derived price statistics per series
Series	Latest	1 month	12 months	5 years	10 years	20 years	All-time high (nominal)	All-time high (real, 2024 US$)
Lithium metal, 99% battery grade $/t, since 2012	156,809 July 2026	-6%	+103%	+64%	+50%	—	490,008 April 2022	532,694 April 2022

Percentage changes compare the latest monthly average with the monthly average 1, 12, 60, 120 and 240 months earlier. Real prices deflate by the US consumer price index (BLS via FRED) to 2024 dollars.

Prices are monthly benchmark averages that may lag the market; informational only, not investment, legal or trade advice. For what these benchmarks mean and how they are set, see how lithium is priced.

Monthly lithium prices by decade

Choose a decade. Values are monthly averages in the unit shown; blank cells mean no quote was published.

Lithium metal, 99% battery grade ($/t)

Lithium metal, 99% battery grade monthly prices, 2010s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
2012						63,643	63,569	63,683	64,070	64,651	64,971	64,967	64,222
2013	65,092	64,977	65,156	65,465	65,950	66,021	66,023	66,157	66,172	66,350	66,467	66,674	65,875
2014	66,926	66,601	65,610	62,763	62,513	62,587	62,910	63,367	63,527	63,666	63,660	62,991	63,927
2015	62,721	62,377	62,505	62,879	62,866	65,774	66,037	64,691	64,378	66,929	69,059	72,882	65,258
2016	72,301	72,546	78,006	81,776	103,005	106,176	104,822	105,276	104,905	111,786	116,946	115,549	97,758
2017	116,016	116,385	115,997	116,090	116,157	117,522	118,117	119,918	121,813	123,645	132,144	138,042	120,987
2018	141,478	143,976	143,979	144,463	143,942	144,682	136,396	131,186	128,398	124,994	120,330	119,540	135,280
2019	117,410	117,155	116,143	112,608	108,328	105,148	98,557	92,298	90,613	89,768	85,586	83,370	101,415

Lithium metal, 99% battery grade monthly prices, 2020s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
2020	84,515	84,090	84,764	80,180	76,716	72,682	67,931	68,554	69,236	69,367	70,409	71,683	75,011
2021	76,313	79,876	85,196	89,693	94,471	96,522	95,768	103,970	122,715	142,293	163,564	184,429	111,234
2022	266,261	341,140	473,186	490,008	453,229	443,656	441,052	435,305	418,813	409,006	409,954	421,882	416,958
2023	430,098	416,104	354,118	289,991	224,371	264,872	268,326	248,534	207,136	179,183	169,804	150,633	266,931
2024	122,568	121,638	124,286	124,327	124,405	121,502	114,427	107,475	103,653	102,664	99,544	96,534	113,585
2025	91,267	90,862	89,546	85,250	82,234	77,075	77,346	81,554	84,644	82,990	85,630	95,257	85,305
2026	131,371	149,175	155,401	159,973	174,127	166,817	156,809						156,239

Method

Nominal prices are the source's monthly averages in US dollars, stored in the source's unit and never mixed on one chart. Real prices divide each month by the US consumer price index for all urban consumers (BLS series CPIAUCSL, via FRED) and multiply by the 2024 average, so they read as "2024 dollars". Changes are ratios of monthly averages. The all-time high is the highest monthly average, not an intraday peak.

Downloads

All series and statistics as JSON
IMF series are shown as charts and statistics only; download them from the IMF Primary Commodity Price System.

Cite as: Commodity Origins, "Lithium price history (2012–2026)", https://commodityorigins.com/prices/lithium/, data 2026-08-06. Data updated 6 September 2026.