The mining and demand for gold is worth more than £130 billion to the global economy, according to a new report about the economic impact of precious metal.
The study looks at how gold contributes to wealth from extraction to consumption by industry and individuals for the first time.
Consumer demand for gold in the form of jewellery, small bars and coins makes up more than half the global value, says accountancy firm PwC, who researched the study for The World Gold Council.
In cash terms, that consumer demand was worth almost £70 billion to the global economy in 2012.
China and India are the two nations where most consumers buy gold.
Economic impact
The report also found gold fuelled the economies of the world’s 15 leading countries mining the metal by almost £50 billion.
However, the most economic impact was in developing countries mining gold. In Papua New Guinea, gold generates 15% of GDP. Other developing nations benefitting from gold mining include Ghana (8% GDP) and Tanzania (6% GDP).
The research also discloses that as these countries export most of their gold, the metal is a major source of foreign exchange earnings.
Gold exports comprise 36% of Tanzanian exports and a quarter of those in Ghana and Papua New Guinea.
“The research shows the importance of gold to the global economy,” said a World Gold Council spokesman.
“However, the research only looked at direct economic effects and did not include indirect benefits, like additional taxes raised from companies making profits, increased employment or the development of infrastructure.”
World’s leading gold producers
A separate report from the World Council confirms 2,400 tonnes of gold were mined worldwide in 2012.
The 15 nations accounted for around 75% of global production. These countries had 527,000 gold mining jobs.
The six largest gold producers were China, Australia, the United States, Russia, Peru and South Africa, which were responsible for more than half of the gold mined worldwide.
“Our research shows times are changing for the gold industry as mining faces soaring costs, challenging stakeholder expectations and a time when the cost of extracting gold could impact the profitability of some projects and lead to closures and job losses,” said the gold council spokesman.
“At the same time consumer demand from a growing Asian middle class is increasing demand, along with calls from central banks to diversify their reserves. Many savers also want to hold gold to protect their assets.”
