The total supply of gold per year consists of about a quarter to a third of scrap gold, according to figures from the World Gold Council. In the event of an increase in Gold price the supply of scrap gold increases, while it decreases again when the gold price is lower. Scrap gold is old coins, bars and jewellery that are melted down and purified into new gold.
The supply of scrap gold is an essential part of the total supply of gold. The first graph shows the total supply of scrap gold per year since 2010. The second graph shows quarterly from 2013 onwards; the total mine production, the total amount of recycled gold, and the percentage of recycled gold relative to mine production.