Gold demand volume worldwide 2024, by sector

In 2024, gold for jewelry fabrication accounted for 2,004 metric tons of the overall gold demand worldwide. Global gold demand for investments that year amounted to about half that amount, at 1,180 metric tons. 

Gold demand worldwide

Global gold demand for jewelry amounted to a decade-low volume of 1,401 metric tons in 2020. It increased in subsequent years to over 2,000 metric tons annually, which is within the average range of gold demand for jewelry that was witnessed during the past decade. That accounted for a 44 percent share of the global gold demand. Jewelry fabrication was the largest demand sector for gold worldwide in each year over the past decade except for 2020, when gold demand for investments was the largest. China, the world's leading gold consuming nation, consumed 1,001.7 metric tons in 2022. Following typical global patterns, Chinese gold consumption was primarily for jewelry, consuming 654.32 metric tons of the country’s total gold consumption in 2022.

Gold market factors

The average price of gold has risen significantly over the last decades. In 1984, the price of gold was at 360.48 U.S. dollars per troy ounce and reached a record 1,943 U.S. dollars per troy ounce in 2023. About 3,300 metric tons of gold was produced in mines globally in 2024. China produced the majority of the global share of gold, mining 380 metric tons in 2024. As China becomes a larger player in the gold industry, the gold market has started to shift eastwards as the regions there become more influential. Due to this movement, the strength of the U.S. dollar has also become less important in the fluctuations in gold prices. The United States nevertheless still holds the world’s largest reserves of gold, totaling 8,133.53 metric tons as of the second quarter of 2023.