13. Where are the above-ground gold deposits?
The total above-ground gold reserves are estimated at 170,000 to 180,000 tons. There are no exact figures, because a significant part of the gold has been preserved for generations in the form of jewellery, coins and ornaments. Also, there are no detailed figures of all the gold that has ever been extracted from the ground somewhere.
More than 85,000 tonnes of all above-ground gold consists of jewellery and other decorations, about half of all the gold present above ground. More than 35,000 tonnes (about 20%) are held by investors and savers in the form of coins, gold bars and gold in investment products such as ETFs. More than 32,000 tonnes of gold are held by central banks and institutions such as the IMF and the ECB. That is also almost 20 percent of the total amount of gold present above the ground. A smaller part of more than 21,000 tonnes of gold is used in electronics and other objects, about 12% of the total above-ground supply.
In Western countries, a lot of gold is in the vaults of central banks, while in Asian countries a lot of gold is in private hands. For example, it is estimated that there are more than 20,000 tonnes of gold held by Indian households, about as much as the total gold holdings of the US central bank and all Eurosystem central banks combined.
Estimates of total above-ground and underground gold reserves
