Gold is Australia's fifth-largest export commodity. Australia's gold exports generated $23 billion in revenue in 2021.
In 2021, Switzerland's gold exports amounted to a value of nearly 87 billion U.S. dollars. Switzerland is consistently the world's leading gold exporting country based on value.
Major markets for Australia's gold exports
Some countries have strong demand for jewellery (particularly India and other Asian countries), some have demand for gold for financial purposes (such as the United Kingdom and China), and some countries require gold for use in industrial applications.
Australia is estimated to have the world's largest gold reserves, with 9,500 tonnes or 17 per cent of the total world estimated gold reserves of 57,000 tonnes. Geoscience Australia estimates that 60 per cent of Australia's gold reserves are in Western Australia.
Western Australia is the largest gold producing state in Australia, accounting for 68% (or 218 tonnes) of Australian total gold mine output in 2021. Australia exports its gold to more than 55 countries.
The United States holds the largest stockpile of gold reserves in the world by a considerable margin. In fact, the U.S. government has almost as many reserves as the next three largest gold-holding countries combined (Germany, Italy, and France).
What Does Australia Export? Australia's main export is iron ore, followed by their other most valuables exports coal, gold, and petroleum. These exports alone rake in $48.2 billion, $47 billion, $29.1 billion, and $20.3 billion, respectively.
Almost the entirety of the RBA's physical gold holdings (99.9 per cent) is stored in the United Kingdom at the Bank of England (BoE). The BoE holds the RBA's gold as bailee; legal and beneficial title to the gold remains with the RBA.
Yearly Trade
During the last five reported years the exports of Australia have changed by $44.7B from $205B in 2015 to $250B in 2020. The most recent exports are led by Iron Ore ($79.6B), Coal Briquettes ($36.4B), Petroleum Gas ($26.8B), Gold ($17.7B), and Frozen Bovine Meat ($4B).
Gold. Australia's abundance of gold resources makes our country a prominent focus in the world's growing demand.
Johannesburg is also known as the City of Gold, or 'eGoli' because of its beginnings as a gold-mining town, it is known fondly to locals by the shortened 'Joburg', or now more popularly as 'Jozi'."
The biggest imports into Australia by dollar value are processed petroleum oils, cars, phone devices including smartphones, trucks, computers, crude oil and medication mixes in dosage. Collectively, those commodities represent 29.7% of the value for all products that Australia imported during 2021.
In Australia this concentration of gold took place in the Earth hundreds of millions of years ago in the eastern states, and thousands of millions of years ago in Western Australia. As well as gold, the fluids can carry other dissolved minerals, such as quartz. This is why gold is often found with quartz.
Australia has plentiful supplies of natural resources, including the second largest accessible reserves of iron ore in the world, the fifth largest reserves of coal and significant gas resources. For a long time, commodities have made up a sizeable share of our exports.
Australian Gold® Founder, Trevor Gray, was born and raised in a small town in Indiana, America. However, thanks to his mother's Australian heritage, he also felt a deep connection to there too. Trevor was raised by 3 Australian women, and had a strong bond with his mother's homeland and culture.