Gold Exports by Country

July 1, 2019 by

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Global sales from gold exports by country totaled an estimated US$291.6 billion in 2018. Overall the value of gold exports fell by an average -6.8% for all exporting countries since 2014 when gold shipments were valued at $313.1 billion.

From 2017 to 2018, the value of global gold exports depreciated by -9.4%.

Among continents, European countries sold the most gold exports during 2018 with shipments amounting to $110.1 billion or 37.8% of the worldwide total. Asian exporters generated 28.9% worth of gold exports, while 12.7% worth was shipped from North America. Gold suppliers in Africa came in at 7.9%, trailed by Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean at 7%, then Oceania at 5.8% led by Australia and Papua New Guinea.

The 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for unwrought or semi-manufactured gold is 7108.

Gold Exports by Country

Countries

Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of gold during 2018.

  1. Switzerland: US$64 billion (21.9% of total gold exports)
  2. Hong Kong: $37.2 billion (12.8%)
  3. United Kingdom: $31.8 billion (10.9%)
  4. United States: $20.3 billion (7%)
  5. Australia: $14.2 billion (4.9%)
  6. Canada: $12.3 billion (4.2%)
  7. Singapore: $11.1 billion (3.8%)
  8. United Arab Emirates: $10.6 billion (3.6%)
  9. Peru: $7 billion (2.4%)
  10. Japan: $6.3 billion (2.2%)
  11. Ghana: $6.1 billion (2.1%)
  12. South Africa: $5.5 billion (1.9%)
  13. Germany: $4.6 billion (1.6%)
  14. Thailand: $4.4 billion (1.5%)
  15. Mexico: $4.3 billion (1.5%)

The listed 15 countries shipped over four-fifths (82.1%) of all gold exports in 2018.

Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing gold exporters since 2014 were: Singapore (up 1,136%), Thailand (up 57.5%), Japan (up 43.9%) and Peru (up 21.3%).

Those countries that posted declines in their exported gold sales were led by: Hong Kong (down -25.5%), Canada (down -18%), South Africa (down -17.4%), Germany (down -16.8%) and United Kingdom (down -15.4%).

For a comprehensive listing of gold exporters, please see the section Searchable List of Gold Exporting Countries below.

Advantages

The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for gold during 2018. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s gold exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.

  1. Hong Kong: US$13.6 billion (net export surplus reversing a -$5 billion deficit in 2014)
  2. United States: $10.7 billion (up 41.3% from 2014)
  3. Australia: $9.6 billion (up 11.9%)
  4. Canada: $7.4 billion (up 6.8%)
  5. Peru: $7 billion (up 21.2%)
  6. United Kingdom: $6.2 billion (down -63.9%)
  7. Ghana: $6.1 billion (no 2014 data)
  8. Japan: $6 billion (up 59.9%)
  9. South Africa: $5.2 billion (down -21.6%)
  10. Mexico: $4.2 billion (down -9.2%)
  11. Brazil: $2.8 billion (up 21.2%)
  12. Uzbekistan: $2.5 billion (up 76.4%)
  13. Argentina: $2.2 billion (up 22.5%)
  14. Papua New Guinea: $2.2 billion (up 27.8%)
  15. Burkina Faso: $2.1 billion (up 46.8%)

Hong Kong has the highest surplus in the international trade of gold among the above top exporters. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Hong Kong’s strong competitive advantage in the international trade of this specific commodity.

Opportunities

The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for gold during 2018. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s gold import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.

  1. China: -US$45 billion (no net export deficit data for 2014)
  2. India: -$31.8 billion (up 11.1% from 2014)
  3. Turkey: -$8.7 billion (up 123.7%)
  4. Thailand: -$7 billion (up 83.5%)
  5. Cambodia: -$5.7 billion (up 3,557%)
  6. Malaysia: -$2.7 billion (down -8.8%)
  7. Singapore: -$2.4 billion (up 192.2%)
  8. Italy: -$1.8 billion (up 80.1%)
  9. Taiwan: -$1.1 billion (up 8.1%)
  10. Austria: -$861.9 million (down -25.4%)
  11. Azerbaijan: -$671.5 million (up 63.7%)
  12. South Korea: -$469.2 million (up 88.6%)
  13. Lebanon: -$398.1 million (up 36.3%)
  14. Qatar: -$352.8 million (up 31.9%)
  15. Jordan: -$221 million (down -59.3%)

China incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of gold. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights China’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for gold-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand among Chinese consumers and businesses.

Companies

Gold Exporting Companies

Listed below are the world’s largest gold companies by market capitalization (which shifts often and dramatically due to the fact that many of these are stock companies). Shown within parentheses is the country where the corporation is headquartered.

  • Barrick Gold (Canada)
  • Newmont Mining (United States)
  • Goldcorp (Canada)
  • Polyus Gold International (United Kingdom)
  • AngloGold Ashanti (South Africa)
  • Newcrest Mining (Australia)
  • Kinross Gold (Canada)
  • Gold Fields Ltd (South Africa)
  • Agnico-Eagle Mines (Canada)
  • Buenaventura (Peru)
  • Harmony Gold (South Africa)
  • Randgold Resources (Jersey)
  • Yamana Gold (Canada)


 

Searchable List of Gold Exporting Countries in 2018

You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below.

RankExporterGold Exports (US$)%World Total
1.Switzerland$64 billion21.9%
2.Hong Kong$37.2 billion12.8%
3.United Kingdom$31.8 billion10.9%
4.United States$20.3 billion7%
5.Australia$14.2 billion4.9%
6.Canada$12.3 billion4.2%
7.Singapore$11.1 billion3.8%
8.United Arab Emirates$10.6 billion3.6%
9.Peru$7 billion2.4%
10.Japan$6.3 billion2.2%
11.Ghana$6.1 billion2.1%
12.South Africa$5.5 billion1.9%
13.Germany$4.6 billion1.6%
14.Thailand$4.4 billion1.5%
15.Mexico$4.3 billion1.5%
16.Brazil$2.8 billion1%
17.Turkey$2.6 billion0.9%
18.Uzbekistan$2.5 billion0.9%
19.Italy$2.3 billion0.8%
20.Argentina$2.2 billion0.8%
21.Papua New Guinea$2.2 billion0.8%
22.Burkina Faso$2.1 billion0.7%
23.Indonesia$2 billion0.7%
24.Tanzania$1.5 billion0.5%
25.Egypt$1.5 billion0.5%
26.Colombia$1.4 billion0.5%
27.Dominican Republic$1.3 billion0.5%
28.Spain$1.3 billion0.4%
29.Belgium$1.3 billion0.4%
30.Mali$1.3 billion0.4%
31.Iraq$1.3 billion0.4%
32.Bolivia$1.2 billion0.4%
33.Suriname$1.2 billion0.4%
34.France$1.1 billion0.4%
35.Zimbabwe$1.1 billion0.4%
36.Philippines$1.1 billion0.4%
37.Venezuela$913.7 million0.3%
38.Austria$898.6 million0.3%
39.China$819 million0.3%
40.Ivory Coast$799.5 million0.3%
41.Chile$733.2 million0.3%
42.Mongolia$725.2 million0.2%
43.Saudi Arabia$718.9 million0.2%
44.Russia$697.1 million0.2%
45.Kyrgyzstan$664.2 million0.2%
46.Sweden$632.9 million0.2%
47.Guyana$610.1 million0.2%
48.South Korea$544.4 million0.2%
49.Guinea$522 million0.2%
50.Uganda$515.6 million0.2%
51.Senegal$509.4 million0.2%
52.Taiwan$480.3 million0.2%
53.New Zealand$433 million0.1%
54.Nicaragua$411.4 million0.1%
55.Mauritania$333.3 million0.1%
56.Malaysia$318.3 million0.1%
57.Liberia$304.8 million0.1%
58.Netherlands$302.5 million0.1%
59.Lebanon$289.4 million0.1%
60.Namibia$274.4 million0.1%
61.Finland$249.7 million0.1%
62.Panama$248 million0.1%
63.Armenia$175.8 million0.1%
64.Azerbaijan$175.1 million0.1%
65.Ecuador$169.2 million0.1%
66.Slovakia$157.9 million0.1%
67.Poland$156.8 million0.1%
68.Portugal$154.1 million0.1%
69.Libya$124.6 million0.04%
70.Curaçao$119.2 million0.04%
71.Togo$109 million0.04%
72.Norway$95.4 million0.03%
73.Zambia$94.1 million0.03%
74.Madagascar$91.8 million0.03%
75.Honduras$90.8 million0.03%
76.Czech Republic$73.2 million0.03%
77.Luxembourg$72.8 million0.02%
78.Georgia$69.8 million0.02%
79.Democr. Rep. Congo$67.9 million0.02%
80.Kenya$57 million0.02%
81.Hungary$54.7 million0.02%
82.Fiji$54.5 million0.02%
83.Estonia$47.8 million0.02%
84.Botswana$46 million0.02%
85.Benin$41.2 million0.01%
86.Morocco$40.1 million0.01%
87.Ethiopia$39 million0.01%
88.Croatia$38.1 million0.01%
89.Laos$35.4 million0.01%
90.Costa Rica$30.9 million0.01%
91.Denmark$29.6 million0.01%
92.Greece$29 million0.01%
93.Slovenia$26.4 million0.01%
94.Serbia$23.8 million0.01%
95.Congo$23.7 million0.01%
96.Cyprus$22.3 million0.01%
97.Bulgaria$20.3 million0.01%
98.Latvia$20 million0.01%
99.Jordan$18.2 million0.01%
100.Uruguay$16.4 million0.01%
101.Ukraine$16.1 million0.01%
102.Cambodia$14.4 million0.005%
103.Andorra$12.8 million0.004%
104.Equatorial Guinea$12.2 million0.004%
105.Eswatini$9.2 million0.003%
106.Niger$8.9 million0.003%
107.Iran$8.8 million0.003%
108.Sudan$8.5 million0.003%
109.Cuba$8.3 million0.003%
110.Qatar$6.6 million0.002%
111.Kazakhstan$5.2 million0.002%
112.Guatemala$5 million0.002%
113.Ireland$4.7 million0.002%
114.Brunei Darussalam$4.4 million0.002%
115.Burundi$4.1 million0.001%
116.Algeria$3.6 million0.001%
117.Paraguay$3.4 million0.001%
118.Malta$2.9 million0.001%
119.Romania$2.8 million0.001%
120.Vietnam$2.5 million0.001%
121.Mozambique$1.7 million0.001%
122.Sierra Leone$1.5 million0.001%
123.Albania$1.3 million0.0004%
124.Solomon Islands$1.2 million0.0004%
125.Moldova$1.1 million0.0004%
126.Mauritius$967,0000.0003%
127.Barbados$921,0000.0003%
128.Macao$902,0000.0003%
129.Central African Rep$706,0000.0002%
130.Lithuania$651,0000.0002%
131.Somalia$532,0000.0002%
132.Antigua/Barbuda$486,0000.0002%
133.Cayman Islands$398,0000.0001%
134.Aruba$362,0000.0001%
135.Israel$247,0000.0001%
136.India$235,0000.0001%
137.Bahamas$196,0000.0001%
138.Kuwait$172,0000.0001%
139.North Macedonia$169,0000.0001%
140.Bosnia/Herzegovina$147,0000.0001%
141.Jamaica$111,0000.00004%
142.Myanmar (Burma)$90,0000.00003%
143.Nigeria$53,0000.00002%
144.New Caledonia$47,0000.00002%
145.Sri Lanka$30,0000.00001%
146.El Salvador$27,0000.00001%
147.Grenada$4,0000.000001%
148.Cameroon$4,0000.000001%
149.Afghanistan$3,0000.000001%
150.Anguilla$3,0000.000001%


See also Gold Imports by Country, Silver Exports by Country, Platinum Exports by Country and Palladium Exports by Country

Research Sources:
Forbes 2015 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 7, 2019

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 7, 2019

The World Factbook, Field Listing: Exports – Commodities, Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on May 7, 2019

Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on May 7, 2019

Wikipedia, Gold. Accessed on May 7, 2019

Wikipedia, Largest gold companies. Accessed on December 10, 2018




Filed Under: Precious metals, Top products