In 1988, 6,109 United States mines in 26 states produced a record 948.8 million (short) tons of coal, an increase of 0.2% from a revised 930.9 million tons produced in 1987. Of this coal, the Eastern coal province produced 47.3%, the western coal provinces (Northern Great Plains, Rocky Mountain, Pacific Coast, and Alaska) produced 32.2%, the Interior coal province produced 14.7%, and the Gulf coal province produced 5.8%.

For the first time, Wyoming led the United States by producing 163.6 million tons of coal. Kentucky ranked second with 161.2 million tons, West Virginia was third with 144.9 million tons, Pennsylvania was fourth with 71.8 million tons, and Illinois was fifth with 59.9 million tons.

In rank, the total U.S. coal production was 0.4% anthracite, 65.3% bituminous, 25.4% subbituminous, and 8.9% lignite. By age, 62% was Pennsylvanian, 30% was Tertiary, and 8% was Cretaceous.

Large-scale lignite production was started for the first time at 1 mine in Arkansas.

The increase in coal production and the decrease in the number of coal mines indicates increased coal-mining efficiency in the United States in 1988. A major factor in this greater efficiency was large-scale surface mining of increased quantities of lignite and subbituminous coal in the western and Gulf coal provinces, where coal commonly contains less than 1% sulfur.

In Canada in 1988, 29 mines produced 70.5 million MT of coal, a record high and an increase of 15.6% from 1987. The 3 western provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan) accounted for 94.3% of Canada's coal production. In rank, 54.6% was bituminous, 28.2% subbituminous, and 17.2% lignite.