Helium is non-renewable on any human timescale — once released to the atmosphere it escapes to space. USGS MCS 2025 reports 2024 world production of 180 Mm3, with the US (45%), Qatar (36%), Russia (9%), and Algeria (6%) providing 96% of supply. The US Federal Helium System ceased government operation in 2024: all storage and pipeline assets were sold to a single private company on June 27, and the CHEU purification unit lease expired in August with unresolved legal status at year-end. Grade-A helium base price in 2024 was $14 per cubic meter ($390 per thousand cubic feet) per USGS.

The US 2024 end-use breakdown shows analytical/specialty gases (22%) as the largest category, followed by lifting gas (18%), MRI (17%), and the grouped "controlled atmospheres, fiber optics, and semiconductors" category (15%). USGS does not break out semiconductors as a standalone line item, so claims about semiconductors "overtaking MRI" cannot be sourced from this document.