Most Abundant Elements in the Human Body
Key Findings
About This Dataset
Most Abundant Elements in the Human BodyThe human body is built from remarkably few elements. Oxygen alone accounts for 65% of body mass, largely because the body is roughly 60% water. Carbon (18%), the backbone of all organic molecules, ranks second, followed by hydrogen (10%) and nitrogen (3%). These four elements together comprise about 96% of the body. The remaining mass comes mostly from calcium (1.4%) and phosphorus (1.1%), the mineral components of bones and teeth. Trace elements such as potassium, sulfur, sodium and chlorine each contribute only about 0.15% to 0.25%, yet are essential for nerve signalling, fluid balance and metabolism. The pattern mirrors the chemistry of water and organic life rather than the composition of Earth's crust.
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- Composition of the human body (CRC Handbook)
- Coverage
- 10 entities · 10 observations
- Measure
- Abundance in the Human Body (% by mass)
- Last updated
- 16 September 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
- Values are shown as reported by the source. Nothing is rescaled, rebased or converted — the only changes are thousand separators and decimals shown to two places.
- Entities are ranked highest-first on their value.
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
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