Gold has fascinated humanity for millennia, symbolising wealth, power, and beauty. But have you ever wondered just how much gold has been mined throughout history?
Gold mining dates back to ancient civilisations. Our best estimates suggest that around 216,265 tonnes of gold have been mined throughout history. Interestingly, about two-thirds of this gold has been extracted since 1950. This massive increase in production has been due to advancements in mining technology and the discovery of new gold deposits.
To put the total amount of mined gold into perspective, if we were to gather all of this gold into a single cube, it would measure approximately 22 metres on each side. That's a surprisingly small volume for such a valuable and historically significant metal. And since gold is virtually indestructible, meaning almost all the gold ever mined still exists in some form.
Total above-ground stock (end-2024): 216,265 tonnes
- Jewellery ~97,149t, 45%
- Bars and coins (including gold backed ETFs) ~48,634t, 22%
- Central banks ~37,755t, 17%
- Other ~32,727t, 15%
- Reserves ~54,770t*
- Resources ~ 132,110t*
*End-2024 estimates from Metals Focus. Reserves are the portion of an ore deposit that can be economically extracted. For an ore deposit to be considered a reserve, numerous factors will have been assessed e.g. geological, mining, processing, marketing, economic and ESG. Only once all of these have been taken into consideration and the ore is still economically viable will it be considered a reserve. Projects that have reached feasibility stage are likely to fall into this category. There are two types, proven and probable. Resources are the portion of a deposit in which companies have less geological knowledge and confidence in, i.e. less drilling data and only simple economic modelling applied to it, or in some instances no economic modelling at all – it’s a broad category ranging from inferred, indicated to measured. Estimates for reserves and resources can vary, for example reserves are currently estimated to be ~64,000t by the US Geological Survey.
Source: Metals Focus, Refinitiv GFMS, World Gold Council
Length and Frequency
Annual volume of above-ground stock of gold from 2010 to 2024.
Update Schedule
This data is updated annually, in conjunction with the publication of our full-year Gold Demand Trends report.
Units
Volume of gold stock is measured in tonnes.
