From 2019 to 2020, the value of globally exported gold appreciated by 29%.
The 5 biggest gold exporters (Switzerland, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States) were responsible for 45.9% of globally exported gold.
Among continents, Asian exporters overtook Europe to sell the most gold on international markets with shipments valued at $146.2 billion or 37% of the worldwide total. Asian exporters generated 34.2% worth of gold exports, while 10.1% worth was shipped from North America and 7.7% originated from Africa.
Gold suppliers in Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean came in at 5.9%, trailed by Oceania (5.1%) led by Australia and Papua New Guinea.
For research purposes, 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 2020.
- Switzerland: $71.7 billion (18.1%)
- Hong Kong: $41.3 billion (10.5%)
- United Arab Emirates: $26.4 billion (6.7%)
- United Kingdom: $21.4 billion (5.4%)
- United States: $20.6 billion (5.2%)
- Russia: $18.5 billion (4.7%)
- Australia: $17.4 billion (4.4%)
- Canada: $16 billion (4.1%)
- Singapore: $15.8 billion (4%)
- Thailand: $13.3 billion (3.4%)
- Germany: $8.7 billion (2.2%)
- Japan: $8.3 billion (2.1%)
- Iraq: $7.9 billion (2%)
- South Africa: $6.8 billion (1.7%)
- Italy: $6.7 billion (1.7%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 76.2% of globally exported gold in 2020.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing gold exporters from 2019 to 2020 were: Russia (up 222.9%), Iraq (up 212.8%), Thailand (up 75.7%) and Italy (up 67.2%).
Only top exporter the United Kingdom posted a decline in its gold sales, thanks to its -8.1% drop.
For a comprehensive listing of 100 major 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 2020. 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.
- Hong Kong: US$22.4 billion (net export surplus up 99.6% since 2019)
- Russia: $18.5 billion (up 223.4%)
- United Arab Emirates: $16.3 billion (reversing a -$13 billion deficit)
- Australia: $11.1 billion (down -3.7%)
- Thailand: $8.3 billion (up 1,375%)
- Japan: $8.1 billion (up 28.1%)
- Iraq: $7.9 billion (up 238.5%)
- Canada: $7.3 billion (down -24.1%)
- Peru: $6.4 billion (down -4.3%)
- South Africa: $6.3 billion (up 46.9%)
- Uzbekistan: $5.8 billion (no 2019 data)
- Brazil: $4.9 billion (up 36.7%)
- Ghana: $4.3 billion (down -30.3%)
- Burkina Faso: $3.7 billion (up 62.3%)
- Indonesia: $3.6 billion (up 104.1%)
Hong Kong garnered the highest surplus in the international trade of gold among the above top precious metal exporters in 2020. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Hong Kong’s strong competitive advantage in the international trade of this precious metal.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for gold during 2020. 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.
- United Kingdom: -US$66.8 billion (net export deficit up 40.8% since 2019)
- Turkey: -$22.4 billion (up 141.7%)
- India: -$21.7 billion (down -30.3%)
- Switzerland: -$16.3 billion (reversing a $1.3 billion surplus)
- United States: -$14.1 billion (reversing a $7.5 billion surplus)
- China: -$7.9 billion (down -81.6%)
- Italy: -$3 billion (up 151.2%)
- Malaysia: -$2.1 billion (up 6.9%)
- Belarus: -$1.1 billion (no 2019 data)
- Austria: -$920.9 million (up 1,576%)
- Singapore: -$831.5 million (down -156.6%)
- Kazakhstan: -$327.4 million (up 20.7%)
- Czech Republic: -$233.2 million (up 137%)
- Qatar: -$214.6 million (down -38.2%)
- Netherlands: -$155.3 million (up 548%)
The United Kingdom incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of gold. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights the UK’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for gold-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand among British consumers and businesses.
Companies
Gold Exporting Companies
Listed below are the world’s largest gold companies by market capitalization (which shifts often and dramatically due to the fact that many of these are stock companies). Shown within parentheses is the country where the corporation is headquartered.
- Barrick Gold (Canada)
- Newmont Mining (United States)
- Goldcorp (Canada)
- Polyus Gold International (United Kingdom)
- AngloGold Ashanti (South Africa)
- Newcrest Mining (Australia)
- Kinross Gold (Canada)
- Gold Fields Ltd (South Africa)
- Agnico-Eagle Mines (Canada)
- Buenaventura (Peru)
- Harmony Gold (South Africa)
- Randgold Resources (Jersey)
- Yamana Gold (Canada)
Searchable List of Gold Exporting Countries in 2020
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. Note that an entry of 0% in the right-most column means no 2019 data was available.
| Rank | Exporter | Gold Exports (US$) | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Switzerland | $71,659,225,000 | +15.6% |
| 2. | Hong Kong | $41,283,353,000 | +63.9% |
| 3. | United Arab Emirates | $26,371,243,000 | +38% |
| 4. | United Kingdom | $21,428,998,000 | -8.1% |
| 5. | United States | $20,561,623,000 | +19.7% |
| 6. | Russia | $18,536,016,000 | +222.9% |
| 7. | Australia | $17,448,643,000 | +7.4% |
| 8. | Canada | $16,027,455,000 | +4.5% |
| 9. | Singapore | $15,805,265,000 | +36.7% |
| 10. | Thailand | $13,333,320,000 | +75.7% |
| 11. | Germany | $8,688,723,000 | +29.4% |
| 12. | Japan | $8,319,717,000 | +29.8% |
| 13. | Iraq | $7,940,023,000 | +212.8% |
| 14. | South Africa | $6,761,388,000 | +46% |
| 15. | Italy | $6,718,222,000 | +67.2% |
| 16. | Peru | $6,436,259,000 | -4.0% |
| 17. | Uzbekistan | $5,804,440,000 | 0% |
| 18. | Indonesia | $5,541,878,000 | +56% |
| 19. | Brazil | $4,903,473,000 | +36.4% |
| 20. | Ghana | $4,322,761,000 | -30.3% |
| 21. | Burkina Faso | $3,681,147,000 | +62.3% |
| 22. | China | $3,543,100,000 | +214.8% |
| 23. | Mexico | $3,454,445,000 | +5.7% |
| 24. | Cambodia | $3,011,285,000 | +675.1% |
| 25. | Egypt | $2,924,509,000 | +42.9% |
| 26. | Colombia | $2,901,983,000 | +66.1% |
| 27. | Turkey | $2,779,978,000 | +39% |
| 28. | Papua New Guinea | $2,270,078,000 | -11.6% |
| 29. | Taiwan | $2,133,567,000 | +166.9% |
| 30. | Saudi Arabia | $1,844,572,000 | +174.8% |
| 31. | Uganda | $1,818,003,000 | +44.7% |
| 32. | Mali | $1,789,458,000 | -32.6% |
| 33. | Argentina | $1,769,364,000 | -20% |
| 34. | Dominican Republic | $1,766,870,000 | +8.5% |
| 35. | South Korea | $1,710,242,000 | +93.2% |
| 36. | Belgium | $1,578,936,000 | -12.6% |
| 37. | Tanzania | $1,554,909,000 | -11.9% |
| 38. | Austria | $1,553,817,000 | +96.9% |
| 39. | Guinea | $1,507,682,000 | -47.2% |
| 40. | France | $1,373,244,000 | +8.4% |
| 41. | Libya | $1,312,513,000 | +10.1% |
| 42. | Suriname | $1,299,314,000 | +73.4% |
| 43. | Philippines | $1,266,282,000 | -7.9% |
| 44. | Bolivia | $1,229,042,000 | -29.3% |
| 45. | Kyrgyzstan | $986,998,000 | +18.5% |
| 46. | Ivory Coast | $986,224,000 | -8.5% |
| 47. | Lebanon | $984,600,000 | -13.2% |
| 48. | Zimbabwe | $982,258,000 | -7.7% |
| 49. | Spain | $954,842,000 | -32.1% |
| 50. | Chile | $954,252,000 | -17.4% |
| 51. | Mongolia | $902,090,000 | +115.6% |
| 52. | Sweden | $893,033,000 | +34.7% |
| 53. | Senegal | $735,460,000 | +14.7% |
| 54. | Mauritania | $719,166,000 | +15.2% |
| 55. | Nicaragua | $684,631,000 | +37.2% |
| 56. | Guyana | $609,071,000 | -9.9% |
| 57. | Tajikistan | $593,973,000 | +165.3% |
| 58. | Laos | $555,956,000 | +189.1% |
| 59. | Namibia | $401,138,000 | +23.6% |
| 60. | Ecuador | $381,430,000 | +96.4% |
| 61. | New Zealand | $333,922,000 | -13.8% |
| 62. | Jordan | $315,317,000 | +52.3% |
| 63. | Netherlands | $259,441,000 | +115.4% |
| 64. | Armenia | $255,810,000 | +14.2% |
| 65. | India | $255,352,000 | +150.8% |
| 66. | Kenya | $242,906,000 | +1,342% |
| 67. | Portugal | $228,307,000 | +13.5% |
| 68. | Azerbaijan | $205,578,000 | +19.3% |
| 69. | Liberia | $185,827,000 | -16.9% |
| 70. | Poland | $167,155,000 | -22.4% |
| 71. | Malaysia | $159,780,000 | -64.4% |
| 72. | Norway | $148,105,000 | +37.5% |
| 73. | Estonia | $117,475,000 | +90.6% |
| 74. | Honduras | $115,691,000 | +37.4% |
| 75. | Hungary | $98,952,000 | +32.9% |
| 76. | Georgia | $97,572,000 | +34% |
| 77. | Czech Republic | $93,132,000 | -10.7% |
| 78. | South Sudan | $82,160,000 | +72.5% |
| 79. | Slovakia | $80,683,000 | -46.1% |
| 80. | Croatia | $75,673,000 | +84.4% |
| 81. | Sudan | $74,371,000 | -93.8% |
| 82. | Finland | $72,391,000 | -73.9% |
| 83. | Zambia | $69,555,000 | -5.6% |
| 84. | Madagascar | $68,942,000 | -18.6% |
| 85. | Fiji | $61,889,000 | +22.9% |
| 86. | Panama | $58,003,000 | -58.2% |
| 87. | Vietnam | $57,170,000 | +741% |
| 88. | Rwanda | $53,950,000 | -82.2% |
| 89. | Luxembourg | $50,139,000 | -40.8% |
| 90. | Cayman Islands | $48,676,000 | +242.3% |
| 91. | Botswana | $46,355,000 | +14.1% |
| 92. | Morocco | $45,382,000 | -28.7% |
| 93. | Ukraine | $40,392,000 | +159.9% |
| 94. | Slovenia | $32,968,000 | +10.3% |
| 95. | Greece | $30,895,000 | +25.1% |
| 96. | Bulgaria | $29,165,000 | -1.2% |
| 97. | Bahrain | $26,605,000 | -92.5% |
| 98. | Belarus | $26,533,000 | 0% |
| 99. | Israel | $25,150,000 | +1063.8% |
| 100. | Palestine | $24,844,000 | 0% |
See also Gold Imports by Country, Silver Exports by Country, Platinum Exports by Country and Palladium Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on May 31, 2021
Forbes 2016 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 31, 2021
International Trade Centre , Trade Map. Accessed on May 31, 2021
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 31, 2021
Wikipedia, Gold. Accessed on May 31, 2021
Wikipedia, Largest gold companies. Accessed on May 31, 2021
