Who's the biggest gold producer in the world?

Gold industry overview

Gold is one of the precious metals that has stood the test of time in terms of its value. The amount of gold purchased globally each year has tripled since the early 1970s.

Historically, countries like South Africa were known to house some of the world’s largest gold reserves, but these have now been surpassed by nations like China, Russia, Australia and the United States over the years.

Gold is a rare commodity that serves as a safe haven for investors during times of volatility and uncertainty that come with geopolitical crisis. This is because it has a long-term storage value and can be used to hedge against inflation.

Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine coincided with a gold price increase of 6% month-over-month in February 2022, to $1910/oz –¬ the largest monthly gain since May 2021.¹

Gold is not only used for jewellery, technology, bars and coins, but central banks also stock up on it. Central banks hold more than 35,000 metric tons of gold, making up about a fifth of all the gold ever mined.^{2, 3}

The world’s top gold producers

China – 368.3 tons

Deemed the world’s largest consumer of gold for a decade, it's no surprise China is at the top of the global list of gold producing countries. China is the largest global gold producer, accounting for 11% of production worldwide.¹ In recent years, the levels of gold reserves decreased from 383 to 368 tons.

This continuous decrease in the gold production has been due to the strict environmental regulations introduced by the Chinese government, leading to the closure of many small mines that weren't efficient.²

Despite China’s consumption numbers decreasing by 17% during 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this gold production showed a steady increase in Q3 2021.¹

Russia – 331.1 tons

Russia is the second largest gold producer in the world after outstripping Australia of this position in 2019. Russia has positioned itself to be Europe’s main supplier of gold since 2010, as it increased its production capacity on an annual basis to the 331.1 tons in reserves.⁴

The biggest local consumer of gold has been the Russian government, which has bought approximately two thirds of this precious metal.⁵

Sanctions placed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine have had a negative impact on the economy, but, with its large gold reserves, the country is likely to use these to hedge against inflation.

Australia – 327.8 tons

Despite having dropped from second position to being the third largest gold producer in the world, Australia has had an increased production from eight years leading up to 2021.⁵ The country has about 327.8 tons of gold in reserves.¹

Gold is among the top commodities in Australia's minerals industry that attribute to over 50% of the country's total exports and 8% of gross domestic product (GDP). This has also been attributable to a couple of mining companies such as Cadia Valley and Mount Morgans increasing their productivity over the years.⁵

United States – 190.2 tons

The United States (US) is the fourth largest global gold producer with 190.2 tons in reserves.¹ The country’s gold supply decreased below the 200 tons mark since 2019, and the pandemic likely didn’t help those production numbers.⁶

The state of Nevada accounted for 80% of the country’s gold production in 2021. The country’s gold net exports were about $9 billion.^{5, 6}

Canada – 170.6 tons

Canada holds 170.6 tons of reserves with a production value of $12.3 billion in 2020. Even though nine provinces in Canada are involved in gold mining, Ontario and Quebec are accountable for 71% of the production.^{1, 7}

Canada exported 6.5 million ounces or 70% of its gold to the United Kingdom in 2020, which was to the value of $23.7 billion in - a 6% increase from $22.3 billion the year before.⁴

Ghana – 138.7 tons

Ghana has made it into the top six position of the world’s gold producers with 138.7 tons of reserves. The west African country exports 37% of its minerals with gold making up about 90% of the output.¹

Mining is important in the performance of Ghana’s economy since the industry went from being state-owned in the 1980s to being privately owned, attracting foreign direct investment. The mining industry is also the largest tax-paying sector contributing to GDP and job creation.⁸

Ghana recently surpassed South Africa, which has slipped to the eleventh place globally.¹ This is likely as a result of South African mining giants like AngloGold Ashanti and Gold Fields looking to Ghana for more affordable production costs.⁵

Brazil – 107.0 tons

Brazil has gained some ground from the tenth position to being the seventh largest world gold producer with 107 tons of reserves. The three most important mineral commodities produced in Brazil, by economic value, are gold, iron ore and copper.

Brazil has approximately 20% of the total gold available in the world. However, its gold reserves are equivalent to 3.4% of the world total,⁹ and about 28% of gold exports from Brazil are from illegal mines.¹⁰

Uzbekistan – 101.6 tons

This central Asian country is the eighth largest gold producer and has 101.6 tons of reserves. Uzbekistan has one of the world’s largest reserves in the one-pit goldfield, the Muruntau Gold Mine, which is estimated to house more than 4,000 tons of the precious metal.¹¹

Mexico – 101.6 tons

Mexico is the ninth largest world gold producer and has 101.6 tons in reserves.¹ This has shrunk compared to the amount 131 tons it had in gold reserves in 2015, but, considering that in 2008 the country only had 50.8 tons, Mexico has made great strides in its gold production.⁵

It’s also known to have low regulation costs for exploration, making it an attractive gold mining destination.⁵

The country generally ships large amounts of mining minerals and ores that had a trade balance in excess of $12.2 billion in 2020, exports totalled $15.6 billion. Mexico’s total mineral ores exports have been on a steady 5.8% incline since 2017.¹²

Indonesia – 100.9 tons

Indonesia is the tenth largest world gold producer and has 100.9 tons of reserves.¹ Indonesia supplies about 3% of the world’s gold. It’s also home to Grasberg, the second largest gold mine in the world.⁵

In addition to being the tenth largest gold producer, the South Pacific country is an important global player within the mining of coal, copper, tin and nickel.¹³

Despite the country’s mining industry being ranked highly on a global scale, its mining laws, which give the government control over the designation of land to be explored, have been seen as a deterrent in attracting foreign investors.¹³

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Footnotes:

¹ World Gold Council, 2022
² Globaldata, 2022
³ Reuters, 2022
⁴ As at 30 December 2020
⁵ Forbes, 2021
⁶ U.S. Geological Survey, 2020
⁷ Government of Canada, 2022
⁸ International Trade Administration, 2022
⁹ OECD iLibrary, 2021
¹⁰ Reuters, 2021
¹¹ Mining Technology, 2021
¹² International Trade Administration, 2021
¹³ pwc, 2019
¹⁵ FitchRatings, 2022
¹⁶ S&P Global, 2021