At the end of 2004, central banks and investment funds held 19% of all above-ground gold as bank reserve assets.[1]
It has been estimated that all the gold mined by the end of 2009 totaled 165,000 tonnes. At a price of US$1900/oz., reached in September 2011, one ton of gold has a value of approximately US$60.8 million. The total value of all gold ever mined would exceed US$9.2 trillion at that valuation.
However, gold at the moment is worth US$1718, so the current value would be a bit less.
IMF gold holdings
As of June 2009, the International Monetary Fund held 3,217 tons (103.4 million oz.) of gold, which had been constant for several years.(In today's value at 1742 per oz, their gold holdings would be worth $177,951,400,000) In Fall 2009, the IMF announced that it will sell one eighth of its holdings, a maximum of 12,965,649 fine troy ounces or 403.3 tons, which would be worth $22,313,881,929 at today's valuation. This sale was based on a new income model agreed upon in April 2008, and subsequently announced the sale of 200 tonnes to India, 10 tonnes to Sri Lanka, a further 10 Metric tonnes of Gold was also sold to Bangladesh Bank in September 2010 and 2 tonnes to the Bank of Mauritius. These gold sales were conducted in stages at prevailing market prices.
The IMF maintains an internal book value of its gold that is far below market value. In 2000, this book value was XDR 35, or about US$47 per troy ounce. An attempt to revalue the gold reserve to today's value has met resistance for different reasons. For example, Canada is against the idea of revaluing the reserve, as it may be a prelude to selling the gold on the open market and therefore depressing gold prices.
This is a very interesting paragraph. As what it is essentially saying is that the countries holding the gold value it differently, far below market value, so that their politicians will not be tempted to sell it off to make a quick buck, since as all truly intelligent economists know, gold is the most stable form of money there is. There has NEVER been a day when the world has woken up one morning and gold has been worth nothing, unlike paper currencies or derivatives. The gradual dilution of paper currency in relation to gold can be neatly described in the following picture.
As you can see from this chart, in February 2002, gold was worth US$250 that is fucking crazy!
The growth in the value of gold has consistently beaten inflation, because the increase in the price of gold is basically caused by inflation as governments debase their currency.
Officially reported gold holdings
Foreign currency reserves and gold minus external debt based on 2010 data from CIA Factbook
Gold reserves per capita
The International Monetary Fund regularly maintains statistics of national assets as reported by various countries. These data are used by the World Gold Council to periodically rank and report the gold holding of countries and official organizations.
Top 20 Countries by Value of Gold Reserves (December 2010)
The gold listed for each of the countries in the table may not be physically stored in the country listed, as central banks generally have not allowed independent audits of their reserves.
Country Tonnes of Gold Percentage of Foriegn
Exchange Held as Gold
1 United States United States of America 8,133.5 76.6%
2 Germany Federal Republic of Germany 3,396.3 73.7%
3 International Monetary Fund 2,814.0 N.A.
4 Italy Italian Republic 2,451.8 73.4%
5 France French Republic 2,435.4 71.8%
6 China People's Republic of China 1,054.1 01.8%
7 Switzerland Swiss Confederation 1,040.1 15.3%
8 Iran Islamic Republic of Iran 907 42.0%
9 Russia Russian Federation 871.0 09.2%
10 Japan State of Japan 765.2 03.5%
11 Netherlands Kingdom of the Netherlands 612.5 61.9%
12 India Republic of India 557.7 09.6%
13 European Central Bank 502.1 35.0%
14 Republic of China Republic of China 422.4 05.9%
15 Portugal Portuguese Republic 382.5 89.2%
16 Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 372.9 67.7%
17 Saudi Arabia Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 322.9 03.3%
18 United Kingdom of Great Britain 310.3 17.6%
19 Lebanon Republic of Lebanon 286.8 32.2%
20 Spain Kingdom of Spain 281.6 39.2%
Privately held gold
At the end of the year 2011, it is estimated that private Indian households hold more than 18,000 tonnes of gold valued at over $950 Billion US Dollars. The largest single site of private Gold storage in India is probably the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple at Thiruvananthapuram in the Southern state of Kerala, said to be holding Gold valuables worth over $20 Billion US Dollars, without accounting for the antique value of the articles.
As of October 2009, gold exchange-traded funds held 1,750 tonnes of gold for private and institutional investors.
Gold Holdings Corp. a publicly listed gold company estimates that the amount of in-ground verified gold resources currently controlled by publicly traded gold mining companies is roughly 50,000 tonnes, which considering the current total of 165,000 tonnes, means that roughly a third of the worlds gold has yet to be mined.
| Rank | Name | Type | Gold (Tonnes) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indian Households | Households | 18,000 |
| 2 | SPDR Gold Shares | ETF | 1,239 |
| 3 | ETF Securities Gold Funds | ETF | 259.79 |
| 4 | ZKB Physical Gold | ETF | 195.53 |
| 5 | COMEX Gold Trust | ETF | 137.61 |
| 6 | Julius Baer Physical Gold Fund | ETF | 93.50 |
| 7 | Central Fund of Canada | CEF | 52.71[18] |
| 8 | NewGold ETF | ETF | 47.75 |
| 9 | Sprott Physical Gold Trust | CEF | 32.27 |
| 10 | ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares | ETF | 27.97 |
| 11 | Bullionvault | Bailment | 37.1[19] |
| 12 | Central Gold Trust | CEF | 18.81[20] |
| 13 | GoldMoney | Bailment | 19.55[21] |
World gold holdings
| Holding | Percentage | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Jewelry | 52% | ||
| Central banks | 18% | ||
| Investment (bars, coins) | 16% | ||
| Industrial | 12% | ||
| Unaccounted | 2% |
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