All The World’s Gold

We here at NumberSleuth are all about exploring the world of numbers, and with this infographic we decided to take a look at the numbers behind the entire amount of gold in the world as well as other facts about gold. Below are a series of questions that we began with and the answers we discovered in our research. We believe that this is the most thorough and in-depth resource with facts about the world’s gold on the Internet and we hope you have as much fun reading through the information as we did in putting it all together.

1. How much above-ground gold (gold that has been mined) is there in all the world?

The best estimate at the end of 2011 is that around 165,000 metric tons (or tonnes) have been mined in all of human history. That’s about 181,881 ordinary tons or 363,762,732 pounds, or 5,820,203,717 ordinary ounces. Gold typically is measured in what are known as troy ounces, which are a little bigger than ordinary ounces (a troy ounce is 31.1034768 grams whereas an ordinary ounce is 28.3495231 grams). There are 32.1507466 troy ounces in a kilogram or 32,150.7466 troy ounces in a metric ton.

“More than half of all humanity’s gold has been extracted in the past 50 years. Now the world’s richest deposits are fast being depleted, and new discoveries are rare. Gone are the hundred-mile-long gold reefs in South Africa or cherry-size nuggets in California. Most of the gold left to mine exists as traces buried in remote and fragile corners of the globe. It’s an invitation to destruction. But there is no shortage of miners, big and small, who are willing to accept.” [QUOTE SOURCE: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/2009/01/gold/larmer-text.]

SOURCES: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/2009/01/gold/larmer-text, http://www.gold.org/about_gold, and http://minerals.usgs.gov.

2. How much gold gets mined per year worldwide?

The table below shows world gold production from 1900 thru 2011. Production in 1900 was around 400 metric tons per year and has consistently moved up over the years. It is currently around 2,500 metric tons per year. The all time high was reached in 2001, with 2,600 metric tons of gold production worldwide. The total gold mined from 1900 to the present is just under 141,000 metric tons. Given that humans have mined a total of 165,000 metric tons over the course of history, that leaves just 24,000 metric tons mined before the 20thcentury.

SOURCE: http://goldratefortoday.org/world-gold-production-1900-2010.



Year World Production (in metric tons) Average Price Total Dollar Value by Year Troy Ounces per Year 1900 386 $ 18.96 $235,297,168.04 12,410,188.19 1901 395 $18.98 $241,037,362.33 12,699,544.91 1902 451 $18.97 $275,064,748.01 14,499,986.72 1903 496 $18.95 $302,191,297.44 15,946,770.31 1904 526 $18.96 $320,638,109.81 16,911,292.71 1905 575 $18.92 $349,767,972.26 18,486,679.30 1906 608 $18.90 $369,450,659.33 19,547,653.93 1907 623 $18.94 $379,366,592.60 20,029,915.13 1908 668 $18.95 $406,983,440.91 21,476,698.73 1909 687 $18.96 $418,780,192.85 22,087,562.91 1910 689 $18.92 $419,113,274.59 22,151,864.41 1911 699 $18.92 $425,196,195.84 22,473,371.87 1912 705 $18.93 $429,072,611.36 22,666,276.35 1913 694 $18.92 $422,154,735.22 22,312,618.14 1914 663 $18.99 $404,789,795.47 21,315,945.00 1915 704 $18.99 $429,822,045.27 22,634,125.61 1916 685 $18.99 $418,221,734.38 22,023,261.42 1917 631 $18.99 $385,252,429.78 20,287,121.10 1918 578 $18.99 $352,893,667.85 18,583,131.53 1919 550 $19.95 $352,774,067.07 17,682,910.63 1920 507 $20.68 $337,092,861.92 16,300,428.53 1921 498 $20.58 $329,507,857.78 16,011,071.81 1922 481 $20.66 $319,496,758.31 15,464,509.11 1923 554 $21.32 $379,741,470.30 17,811,513.62 1924 592 $20.69 $393,797,776.72 19,033,241.99 1925 591 $20.64 $392,182,523.21 19,001,091.24 1926 602 $20.63 $399,288,481.22 19,354,749.45 1927 597 $20.64 $396,164,071.66 19,193,995.72 1928 603 $20.66 $400,533,358.13 19,386,900.20 1929 609 $20.63 $403,931,370.54 19,579,804.68 1930 648 $20.65 $430,215,570.40 20,833,683.80 1931 695 $17.06 $381,201,757.21 22,344,768.89 1932 754 $20.69 $501,560,006.15 24,241,662.94 1933 793 $26.33 $671,297,622.28 25,495,542.05 1934 841 $34.69 $937,975,205.02 27,038,777.89 1935 924 $34.84 $ 1,035,001,978.67 29,707,289.86 1936 1,030 $34.87 $ 1,154,729,429.96 33,115,269.00 1937 1,100 $34.79 $ 1,230,376,921.64 35,365,821.26 1938 1,170 $34.85 $ 1,310,930,617.24 37,616,373.52 1939 1,230 $34.42 $ 1,361,153,298.51 39,545,418.32 1940 1,310 $33.85 $ 1,425,676,631.86 42,117,478.05 1941 1,080 $33.85 $ 1,175,366,994.20 34,722,806.33 1942 1,120 $33.85 $ 1,218,899,105.10 36,008,836.19 1943 896 $33.85 $975,119,284.08 28,807,068.95 1944 813 $33.85 $884,790,153.97 26,138,556.99 1945 762 $34.71 $850,355,739.84 24,498,868.91 1946 860 $34.71 $959,719,076.46 27,649,642.08 1947 900 $34.71 $ 1,004,357,173.04 28,935,671.94 1948 932 $34.71 $ 1,040,067,650.30 29,964,495.83 1949 964 $31.69 $982,178,302.00 30,993,319.72 1950 879 $34.72 $981,204,777.40 28,260,506.26 1951 883 $34.72 $985,669,873.08 28,389,109.25 1952 868 $34.60 $965,576,942.49 27,906,848.05 1953 864 $34.84 $967,794,057.97 27,778,245.06 1954 965 $35.04 $ 1,087,132,485.23 31,025,470.47 1955 947 $35.03 $ 1,066,549,898.77 30,446,757.03 1956 978 $34.99 $ 1,100,205,621.82 31,443,430.17 1957 1,020 $34.95 $ 1,146,141,965.54 32,793,761.53 1958 1,050 $35.10 $ 1,184,915,765.94 33,758,283.93 1959 1,130 $35.10 $ 1,275,195,062.40 36,330,343.66 1960 1,190 $35.27 $ 1,349,408,630.77 38,259,388.45 1961 1,230 $35.25 $ 1,393,975,995.71 39,545,418.32 1962 1,290 $35.23 $ 1,461,145,335.51 41,474,463.11 1963 1,340 $35.09 $ 1,511,747,395.58 43,082,000.44 1964 1,390 $35.10 $ 1,568,602,775.87 44,689,537.77 1965 1,440 $35.12 $ 1,625,953,277.65 46,297,075.10 1966 1,450 $35.13 $ 1,637,710,805.68 46,618,582.57 1967 1,420 $34.95 $ 1,595,609,403.01 45,654,060.17 1968 1,440 $39.31 $ 1,819,938,022.34 46,297,075.10 1969 1,450 $41.28 $ 1,924,415,088.49 46,618,582.57 1970 1,480 $36.02 $ 1,713,943,440.95 47,583,104.97 1971 1,450 $40.62 $ 1,893,646,823.99 46,618,582.57 1972 1,390 $58.42 $ 2,610,762,796.76 44,689,537.77 1973 1,350 $97.39 $ 4,227,067,635.35 43,403,507.91 1974 1,250 $ 154.00 $ 6,189,018,720.50 40,188,433.25 1975 1,200 $ 160.86 $ 6,206,122,917.69 38,580,895.92 1976 1,210 $ 124.74 $ 4,852,685,798.37 38,902,403.39 1977 1,210 $ 147.84 $ 5,751,331,316.59 38,902,403.39 1978 1,210 $ 193.40 $ 7,523,724,814.85 38,902,403.39 1979 1,210 $ 306.00 $ 11,904,135,436.12 38,902,403.39 1980 1,220 $ 615.00 $ 24,122,705,173.98 39,223,910.85 1981 1,280 $ 460.00 $ 18,930,359,598.08 41,152,955.65 1982 1,340 $ 376.00 $ 16,198,832,166.94 43,082,000.44 1983 1,400 $ 424.00 $ 19,084,683,181.76 45,011,045.24 1984 1,460 $ 361.00 $ 16,945,372,503.00 46,940,090.04 1985 1,530 $ 317.00 $ 15,593,433,608.47 49,190,642.30 1986 1,610 $ 368.00 $ 19,048,674,345.57 51,762,702.03 1987 1,660 $ 447.00 $ 23,856,496,992.13 53,370,239.36 1988 1,870 $ 437.00 $ 26,273,268,614.05 60,121,896.14 1989 2,010 $ 381.00 $ 24,621,363,253.75 64,623,000.67 1990 2,180 $ 383.51 $ 26,879,689,566.27 70,088,627.59 1991 2,160 $ 362.11 $ 25,146,950,798.86 69,445,612.66 1992 2,260 $ 343.82 $ 24,982,197,512.99 72,660,687.32 1993 2,280 $ 359.77 $ 26,372,472,957.76 73,303,702.25 1994 2,260 $ 384.00 $ 27,901,703,929.34 72,660,687.32 1995 2,230 $ 383.79 $ 27,516,271,133.88 71,696,164.92 1996 2,290 $ 387.81 $ 28,552,592,579.19 73,625,209.71 1997 2,450 $ 331.02 $ 26,074,223,341.85 78,769,329.17 1998 2,500 $ 294.24 $ 23,650,089,198.96 80,376,866.50 1999 2,570 $ 278.98 $ 23,051,397,286.22 82,627,418.76 2000 2,590 $ 279.11 $ 23,241,610,748.33 83,270,433.69 2001 2,600 $ 271.04 $ 22,656,759,732.01 83,591,941.16 2002 2,550 $ 309.73 $ 25,393,029,398.27 81,984,403.83 2003 2,540 $ 363.38 $ 29,674,663,280.75 81,662,896.36 2004 2,420 $ 409.72 $ 31,878,185,430.62 77,804,806.77 2005 2,470 $ 444.74 $ 35,317,845,915.92 79,412,344.10 2006 2,370 $ 603.46 $ 45,982,004,217.47 76,197,269.44 2007 2,360 $ 695.39 $ 52,763,246,120.49 75,875,761.98 2008 2,290 $ 871.96 $ 64,198,237,862.22 73,625,209.71 2009 2,450 $ 972.35 $ 76,591,357,218.45 78,769,329.17 2010 2,500 $ 1,224.53 $ 98,423,884,335.25 80,376,866.50 2011 2,500* $1,560.85** $ 125,456,232,076.53 80,376,866.50

*Estimated value for 2011.

**Cumulative average thru November 22, 2011, http://www.kitco.com/scripts/hist_charts/yearly_graphs.plx.

SOURCE: This table thru 2009 appears here: http://minerals.usgs.gov/ds/2005/140/gold.pdf.

3. But didn’t the Spanish get lots and lots of gold from the New World, especially from the Aztecs and Incas?

In fact, the Spanish got much more silver than gold from the New World. In the 16th century, when production was in full swing, the Spanish only got 154 metric tons of gold, whereas they got 7440 metric tons of silver. Gold production in the new world for the entire the 16thcentury was thus less than half of what it was worldwide in 1900. Here is a comparison, decade by decade, of Spanish gold and silver production in the New World in the 16th century:

Year value in millions of pesos gold (in metric tons) silver (in metric tons) 1503-1510 1.18 5 0 1511-1520 2.18 9.2 0 1521-1530 1.17 4.9 0 1531-1540 5.58 14.5 86 1541-1550 10.46 25 178 1551-1560 17.86 42.6 303 1561-1570 25.34 11.5 943 1571-1580 29.15 9.4 1119 1581-1590 53.2 12.1 2103 1591-1600 69.6 19.5 2708

SOURCE: http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/cowen/~GEL115/115ch8.html

4. How much gold, really, is 165,000 metric tons (the total mined throughout human history) and 2,500 metric tons (the total that’s currently mined annually)?

An Olympic swimming pool is 50 by 25 by 2 meters. It therefore contains 2,500 cubic meters of water. Each cubic meter of water is one metric ton. Gold is 19.3 times as dense as water. Therefore an Olympic swimming pool would contain 48,250 metric tons of gold. It follows that 3.42 Olympic-sized swimming pools could contain all the gold that’s ever been mined. Another way to imagine this is to think of all the gold in the world ever mined as a single cube. That would be a cube with each side just over 20 meters, or 67 feet, in length. Given that about 2,500 metric tons of gold is mined each year, this annual production of gold would fit in a cube whose sides were 5 meters, or 16.6 feet, in length. All the production of gold in the world for a given year would thus fit in a 20 by 30 foot room with an 8 foot ceiling.

5. Given 165,000 metric tons as an upper bound on available gold, how much does that leave to each human on the planet?

Humanity has just hit the 7 billion mark. That leaves just under 24 grams of gold to each person on planet earth, or .76 troy ounces or .83 ordinary ounces per person. In an ordinary male gold wedding band at 18-karat purity, there are about 5 grams of pure gold. That means every person on planet earth could own about 5 gold rings. At the current price of $1,750.00 per troy ounce of gold, that leaves $1,326.00 in gold for each person on planet earth. “Gold production has increased by a factor of 2.1 from 1959 to 2010. At the same time, the world population has been multiplied by a factor 2.2. Thus we produced more or less the same amount of gold per inhabitant as in 1959.” [QUOTE SOURCE: http://news.goldseek.com/Dani/1309290922.php)

6. How does the gold that’s mined get used?

52 percent gets used for jewelry, 18 percent constitute official holdings (as in central banks of nations), 16 percent take the form of investments, 12 percent find industrial uses, leaving 2 percent unaccounted for.

SOURCE: http://dollardaze.org/blog/?post_id=00479&cat_id=20

7. Which nations consume the most gold?

Since jewelry is the most common use of gold, gold consumption worldwide is most easily gauged by gold jewelry consumption. India is in this respect far and away the biggest consumer of gold. Here are the data for 2009 and 2010 of gold jewelry consumption by country in metric tons:

Country 2010 2009 % Change India 745.7 442.37 69 Greater China 428 376.96 14 United States 128.61 150.28 -14 Turkey 74.07 75.16 -1 Saudi Arabia 72.95 77.75 -6 Russia 67.5 60.12 12 United Arab Emirates 63.37 67.6 -6 Egypt 53.43 56.68 -6 Indonesia 32.75 41 -20 United Kingdom 27.35 31.75 -14 Other Gulf Countries 21.97 24.1 -10 Japan 18.5 21.85 -15 South Korea 15.87 18.83 -16 Vietnam 14.36 15.08 -5 Thailand 6.28 7.33 -14 Total 1805.6 1508.7 20 Other Countries 254 251.6 1 World Total 2059.6 1760.3 17

SOURCE: See “Full Year 2010 Gold Demand Trends Report” available at http://www.gold.org/media/press_releases/archive/2011/02/global_gold_demand_in_2010_reached_a_10_year_high_in_tonnage_and_all_time_high_in_value/ as well as http://www.forexyard.com/en/news/Gold-jewellery-consumption-by-country-2011-02-28T130619Z-FACTBOX.

8. Where does the world’s gold get produced?

Here is the breakdown of 100 top gold-producing nations in the world for 2009. China sits at the top, with the United States the runner up:

2009 Production by Country 2009 (in kilograms) 1 China 320,000 2 United States 223,000 3 Australia 222,000 4 South Africa 197,698 5 Russian Federation 190,693 6 Peru 182,391 7 Indonesia 130,000 8 Canada 97,367 9 Uzbekistan 90,000 10 Ghana 86,000 11 Papua New Guinea 66,000 12 Brazil 60,000 13 Mexico 51,393 14 Colombia 47,837 15 Argentina 47,000 16 Mali 42,000 17 Chile 40,834 18 Tanzania, United Republic Of 40,000 19 Philippines 37,047 20 Kazakhstan 22,000 21 Guinea 18,083 22 Kyrgyzstan 16,950 23 Burkina Faso 13,500 24 New Zealand 13,442 25 Suriname 12,193 26 Turkey 12,000 27 Venezuela 10,500 28 Mongolia 9,803 29 Guatemala 8,485 30 Guyana 8,183 31 Mauritania 8,000 32 Japan 7,000 33 Finland 7,000 34 Bolivia 7,000 35 Côte D’ivoire 6,573 36 Senegal 5,600 37 Saudi Arabia 5,500 38 Sweden 5,000 39 Lao People’s Democratic Republic 5,000 40 Zimbabwe 4,200 41 Bulgaria 4,200 42 Spain 3,450 43 Nicaragua 3,400 44 Ethiopia 3,400 45 Viet Nam 3,000 46 Thailand 3,000 47 India 2,800 48 Malaysia 2,794 49 Uruguay 2,180 50 Honduras 2,127 51 Ecuador 2,092 52 Namibia 2,022 53 Congo, The Democratic Republic Of The 2,000 54 Korea, Democratic People’s Republic Of 2,000 55 French Guiana 2,000 56 Niger 2,000 57 Georgia 2,000 58 Botswana 2,000 59 Sudan 1,922 60 Cameroon 1,600 61 Uganda 1,600 62 Zambia 1,500 63 France 1,500 64 Tajikistan 1,361 65 Morocco 1,200 66 Denmark 1,117 67 Fiji 1,040 68 Algeria 1,010 69 Armenia 944 70 Poland 814 71 Panama 800 72 Burundi 750 73 Liberia 600 74 Mozambique 511 75 Serbia 500 76 Costa Rica 500 77 Greece 500 78 Italy 450 79 Iran, Islamic Republic Of 400 80 Romania 400 81 Azerbaijan 353 82 Gabon 300 83 Kenya 300 84 Nigeria 200 85 Sierra Leone 200 86 Equatorial Guinea 200 87 Slovakia 200 88 United Kingdom 185 89 Korea, Republic Of 175 90 Dominican Republic 173 91 Myanmar 100 92 Chad 100 93 Congo 100 94 Madagascar 70 95 Eritrea 30 96 Oman 28 97 Rwanda 20 98 Benin 20 99 Central African Republic 10 100 Belize 5

SOURCES: http://www.indexmundi.com/minerals/?product=gold&graph=production and http://www.indexmundi.com/en/commodities/minerals/gold/gold_t8.html. See also http://www.dani2989.com/gold/goldproduction2011gb.html.

9. What’s happening with gold prices?

The trend since 1900 has been rising gold prices with occasional sharp volatility. See the table in question 2 for the history of gold prices from 1900 to the present. Here is a graph of gold prices over the last fifty years, which includes also gold prices adjusted for inflation:

SOURCES: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gold_price_in_USD.png and http://minerals.usgs.gov/ds/2005/140/gold.pdf.

Here’s what’s happened with gold prices in the last decade:

SOURCE: http://www.kitco.com.

Here’s what’s happened with gold in the last year (2011):

SOURCE: http://www.kitco.com.

10. Who’s got the gold that’s used for monetary and investment purposes and how much of this type of gold is out there?

In 2011, about 2,100 metric tons of gold appeared in what are known as exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The lion’s share was in one fund: 1,240 metric tons in SPDR Gold Shares (http://www.spdrgoldshares.com). As of 2009, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) held 3,217 metric tons of gold. In 2010, the central banks of nations held a total of 28,398 metric tons of gold. Here is the breakdown:

Gold Reserves in Central Banks metric tons % of forex reserves value @ $1750 per troy oz. 1 United States USA 8,133.50 74.70% $457,621,670,574.43 2 Germany 3,401.00 71.70% $191,353,206,076.55 3 Italy 2,451.80 71.40% $137,947,600,899.29 4 France 2,435.40 66.10% $137,024,874,471.87 5 China 1,054.10 1.70% $59,307,678,484.36 6 Switzerland 1,040.10 16.40% $58,519,985,192.66 7 Qatar 950.30 7.10% $53,467,495,364.47 8 Russia 775.20 6.70% $43,615,702,837.56 9 Japan 765.20 3.00% $43,053,064,772.06 10 Netherlands 615.50 59.40% $34,630,372,931.53 11 India 614.80 8.10% $34,590,988,266.94 12 Republic of China (Taiwan) 466.90 4.60% $26,269,571,278.20 13 Portugal 421.60 81.10% $23,720,820,841.48 14 Venezuela 401.10 52.40% $22,567,412,807.21 15 Saudi Arabia 322.90 3.00% $18,167,583,135.00 16 Iran — Islamic Republic of Iran 320.00 0.00% $18,004,418,096.00 17 United Kingdom 310.30 16.80% $17,458,659,172.47 18 Lebanon 300.00 27.60% $16,879,141,965.00 19 Spain 281.60 38.60% $15,843,887,924.48 20 Austria 280.00 56.20% $15,753,865,834.00 21 Belgium 227.50 36.80% $12,800,015,990.13 22 Pakistan 184.40 19.20% $10,375,045,927.82 23 Philippines 175.90 14.00% $9,896,803,572.15 24 Algeria 173.60 4.50% $9,767,396,817.08 25 Libya 143.80 5.60% $8,090,735,381.89 26 Singapore 127.40 2.50% $7,168,008,954.47 27 Sweden 125.70 11.10% $7,072,360,483.34 28 South Africa 124.90 12.20% $7,027,349,438.10 29 Turkey 116.10 6.00% $6,532,227,940.46 30 Greece 111.70 78.70% $6,284,667,191.64 31 Romania 103.70 9.10% $5,834,556,739.24 32 Poland 102.90 4.50% $5,789,545,694.00 33 Mexico 100.10 3.80% $5,632,007,035.66 34 Thailand 99.50 2.50% $5,598,248,751.73 35 Australia 79.90 8.10% $4,495,478,143.35 36 Kuwait 79.00 13.50% $4,444,840,717.45 37 Egypt 75.60 8.70% $4,253,543,775.18 38 Indonesia 73.10 3.60% $4,112,884,258.81 39 Kazakhstan 67.30 10.00% $3,786,554,180.82 40 Denmark 66.50 3.30% $3,741,543,135.58 41 Argentina 54.70 4.50% $3,077,630,218.29 42 Finland 49.10 20.60% $2,762,552,901.61 43 Bulgaria 39.90 9.90% $2,244,925,881.35 44 Malaysia 36.40 1.50% $2,048,002,558.42 45 Peru 34.70 3.60% $1,952,354,087.29 46 Belarus 32.00 24.50% $1,800,441,809.60 47 Brazil 33.60 0.50% $1,890,463,900.08 48 Slovakia 31.80 65.40% $1,789,189,048.29 49 Bolivia 28.30 13.40% $1,592,265,725.37 50 Ukraine 27.20 3.50% $1,530,375,538.16 51 Ecuador 26.30 31.00% $1,479,738,112.27 52 Syria 25.80 0.00% $1,451,606,208.99 53 Morocco 22.00 4.20% $1,237,803,744.10 54 Nigeria 21.40 0.00% $1,204,045,460.17 55 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka 17.50 11.90% $984,616,614.63 56 South Korea South Korea 14.40 0.20% $810,198,814.32 57 Cyprus 13.90 50.80% $782,066,911.05 58 Bangladesh 13.50 5.20% $759,561,388.43 59 Serbia 13.10 4.20% $737,055,865.81 60 Netherlands Antilles 13.10 36.30% $737,055,865.81 61 Jordan 12.80 4.30% $720,176,723.84 62 Czech Republic 12.70 1.20% $714,550,343.19 63 Cambodia 12.40 14.40% $697,671,201.22 64 Laos 8.80 36.50% $495,121,497.64 65 Latvia 7.70 4.00% $433,231,310.44 66 El Salvador 7.30 10.60% $410,725,787.82 67 Guatemala 6.90 5.30% $388,220,265.20 68 Colombia 6.90 1.10% $388,220,265.20 69 Republic of Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 6.80 12.70% $382,593,884.54 70 Tunisia 6.80 0.00% $382,593,884.54 71 Ireland 6.00 11.80% $337,582,839.30 72 Lithuania 5.80 3.80% $326,330,077.99 73 Bahrain 4.70 0.00% $264,439,890.79 74 Mauritius 3.90 6.80% $219,428,845.55 75 Canada 3.40 0.20% $191,296,942.27 76 Tajikistan 3.30 0.00% $185,670,561.62 77 Slovenia 3.20 13.40% $180,044,180.96 78 Aruba 3.10 17.70% $174,417,800.31 79 Hungary 3.10 0.30% $174,417,800.31 80 Kyrgyzstan 2.60 6.50% $146,285,897.03 81 Luxembourg 2.20 11.70% $123,780,374.41 82 Hong Kong 2.10 0.00% $118,153,993.76 83 Suriname 2.00 11.40% $112,527,613.10 84 Iceland 2.00 1.60% $112,527,613.10 85 Papua New Guinea 2.00 2.90% $112,527,613.10 86 Trinidad and Tobago 1.90 0.80% $106,901,232.45 87 Albania 1.60 2.80% $90,022,090.48 88 Yemen 1.60 1.10% $90,022,090.48 89 Cameroon 0.90 1.20% $50,637,425.90 90 Mongolia 0.90 2.40% $50,637,425.90 91 Honduras 0.70 0.00% $39,384,664.59 92 Paraguay 0.70 0.70% $39,384,664.59 93 Dominican Republic 0.60 1.00% $33,758,283.93 94 Gabon 0.40 0.80% $22,505,522.62 95 Malawi 0.40 6.20% $22,505,522.62 96 Central African Republic 0.30 8.40% $16,879,141.97 97 Chad 0.30 2.40% $16,879,141.97 98 Republic of the Congo 0.30 0.40% $16,879,141.97 99 Uruguay 0.30 0.10% $16,879,141.97 100 Fiji 0.20 0.00% $11,252,761.31

SOURCES:

http://www.gold.org/investment/statistics/reserve_asset_statistics and http://af.reuters.com/article/southAfricaNews/idAFLDE7551YW20110606.

ADDITIONAL SOURCES:

http://money.howstuffworks.com/question213.htm [neat article on the world’s gold, titled “All the Gold in the World,” provides some background for this infographic]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2010/11/19/how-many-olympic-sized-swimming-pools-can-we-fill-with-billionaire-gold [describes how world’s gold fills 3.27 Olympic-sized swimming pools with gold, at 157,000 metric tons of above-ground gold in 2007 – these numbers have since increased, as reflected above]

More Gold Facts