FLYWHEELCLOCK
Commodity · Au · USGS MCS 2026 (Jan 2026), IMF IRFCL (data to Sep 2026), issuer holdings Oct 23, 2026

Where all the gold is: who owns it, where it's stored, and how much is left

About 216,000 tonnes mined in all of history. Roughly 1 in 6 has a named owner.

Gold mined since Jan 1 projected from USGS 2025 annual mine production
0.105 kg a second
0 since you opened this page0.105 kg a second— a day
Mined in 2025~3,300 t
Ever mined (approx.)~215,990 t
Left in reserves~66,000 t
Years at today's pace~20
Value at the USGS 2025 average price ($3,300/oz)
$11,095/s
$11,095 a second · 0 since you opened this page

3,300 tonnes a year (USGS 2025 estimate) ÷ 31,557,600 seconds ≈ 0.105 kilograms (104.6 grams) a second. The dollar line uses USGS's 2025 average price of $3,300/oz (Engelhard quotation), not a live price. 1

Where all the gold is

Every tonne ever mined, split into owners that are publicly named and everything else.

Only about 16.6% of all gold ever mined has a publicly named owner.

OwnerTonnesShare
Central banks & governments (79 IMF reporters)531,221.9 t14.5%
IMF62,814.1 t1.3%
Largest US gold ETFs (GLD, IAU, GLDM)7981,739.5 t0.8%
Tether (disclosed company)10168.2 t0.1%
Privately held, owner not public (jewelry, bars, coins)180,046.2 t83.4%
Approx. gold ever mined215,990 t100%

Approx. gold ever mined (USGS cumulative production)

  • USGS: about 187,000 t "historically produced" (the FAQ pairs this with 57,000 t of reserves, the MCS 2017 figure, so it's read here as through end-2016). 4
  • + world mine production 2017–2022: 3,260 + 3,310 + 3,260 + 3,050 + 3,120 + 3,160 = 19,160 t 3
  • + 2023–2025: 3,250 + 3,280 + 3,300 = 9,830 t 2 1
  • = ~215,990 t approx. gold ever mined
  • Cross-check: USGS year-by-year world production 1900–2025 alone sums to 185,173 t; the rest (~30,817 t) was mined before 1900.

Who owns it (the math)

  • Central banks & governments: 31,221.9 t, the sum of the latest monthly gold holdings of 79 reporters to the IMF (including the ECB). 5
  • IMF's own gold: 2,814.1 t (90.5M oz). 6
  • ETFs: GLD 1,041.65 + IAU 463.05 + GLDM 234.85 = 1,739.55 t, from each issuer's own published holdings. 7 9 8
  • Tether: 146.19 t backing USDT + 22.01 t backing XAU₮ = 168.2 t (Jun 30, 2026). 10
  • Disclosed individuals: none. No person's personal bullion holding is publicly verified.
  • Privately held, owner not public = 215,990 − 35,943.8 = 180,046.2 t (83.4%)

The "owner not public" bucket is everything without a named holder: jewelry, private bars and coins, gold in other ETFs and funds, industrial gold, gold lost over history, and any official gold not reported to the IMF. Dates differ by row. Treat all shares as approximate.

Jewelry is the largest single use of newly consumed gold, according to USGS's 2026 summary. 1

Countries and central banks

Official gold reported to the IMF by 79 central banks and governments: 31,221.9 t in total. Top 20, latest month reported.

#HolderTonnesAs of
1United States8,133.5Jul 2026
2Germany3,349.1Sep 2026
3Italy2,451.8Sep 2026
4France2,437.0Sep 2026
5China2,386.6Aug 2026
6Russia2,264.3Sep 2026
7Switzerland1,039.9Aug 2026
8India880.5Aug 2026
9Japan846.0Sep 2026
10Türkiye791.4Aug 2026
11Poland672.9Sep 2026
12Netherlands612.5Sep 2026
13European Central Bank508.4Sep 2026
14Portugal382.7Sep 2026
15Kazakhstan377.1Aug 2026
16Saudi Arabia323.1Aug 2026
17United Kingdom310.3Sep 2026
18Spain281.6Sep 2026
19Austria280.0Sep 2026
20Thailand234.6Jul 2026

Source: International Monetary Fund, International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity (IRFCL), gold volume in fine troy ounces ÷ 32,150.75. Brazil's value is reported in thousandths of an ounce and was divided by 1,000; Angola and Kosovo were left out because their units look wrong. Some holders (for example several Gulf states, Uzbekistan, Iraq and Taiwan) don't report gold in IRFCL and aren't counted. 5

IMF
2,814.1 t
Held at designated depositories in the US, UK, France and India 6
US Treasury (USGS)
8,130 t
Valued at the official $42.22/oz 1

Funds and companies

HolderTonnesAs ofWhere
SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)1,041.65Oct 23, 2026HSBC vault (per the trust's bar list) 7
iShares Gold Trust (IAU)463.05Oct 23, 2026Custodian JPMorgan (London/NY) 9 28
SPDR Gold MiniShares (GLDM)234.85Oct 23, 20268
Tether: USDT reserves146.19Jun 30, 2026Swiss vault, location undisclosed 10
Tether Gold (XAU₮)22.01Jun 30, 2026Swiss vault 10

Fund shareholders are the beneficial owners. Brokers report fund positions in SEC 13F filings, but those name the broker, not the end investor, and 13Fs don't cover physical bullion. Billionaire gold positions that show up publicly (e.g. Tudor Investment) are fund positions, not personal metal.

Where it's physically stored

The biggest vaults

VaultTonnesWhose gold
London vaults (all LBMA, incl. Bank of England)9,821 (end-Sep 2026)Central banks, ETFs, banks 13
New York Fed, 80 ft below Manhattan~6,331 (2024)Foreign central banks and the US Treasury; the Fed owns none 11
Bank of England5,782 (end-Sep 2026)Central banks and LBMA members 12
Fort Knox, Kentucky4,583 (147.34M oz)US Treasury 14
Swiss vaults (Zurich and others)UnknownPrivate clients, funds, Tether. No official total.

Where the two biggest holders keep theirs

HolderLocationTonnes
United StatesFort Knox4,583
United StatesWest Point~1,682
United StatesDenver Mint~1,364
United StatesNew York Fed (Treasury-owned)~416
United StatesWorking stock~87
GermanyFrankfurt1,710
GermanyNew York Fed1,236
GermanyLondon (Bank of England)405

US: Treasury gold reserve status report, Sep 2026 (ounces ÷ 32,150.7). 14 Germany: Die Zeit, Jan 2026. 15 China, Russia and most Gulf states don't disclose where their gold is kept.

Disclosed by others

  • IMF gold sits in depositories in New York, London, Paris and Nagpur; the split isn't public. 6
  • Switzerland: about 70% in Switzerland, 20% at the Bank of England and 10% in Canada (SNB statement, 2013). 29
  • France: the 129 t once held in New York was sold and replaced in Europe. 30
  • India: the majority is now held domestically. 31

Still in the ground

World reserves: about 66,000 t (USGS). At 2025's pace that's about 20 years of mining (66,000 ÷ 3,300, derived). Reserves get revised up as prices rise and new deposits are proven, so this isn't a countdown. 1

Reserves by country (tonnes)1

Australia13,000 t
Russia12,000 t
South Africa5,000 t
Indonesia3,600 t
China3,200 t
Canada3,200 t
United States3,000 t
Brazil2,500 t
Kazakhstan2,300 t
Uzbekistan2,200 t
Peru2,200 t
Mexico1,400 t
Ghana1,000 t
Other countries11,000 t

Australia's JORC-compliant reserves are 4,500 t. US identified + undiscovered resources: about 33,000 t. 1

Major mines and who owns them

MineCountryOwner(s)Size
Nevada Gold MinesUSABarrick 61.5% / Newmont 38.5%2.70 Moz produced (2024) 16
MuruntauUzbekistanState-owned (NMMC)~2.68 Moz a year 17
GrasbergIndonesiaIndonesian state (MIND ID) 51.24% / Freeport 48.76%1.86 Moz 17
OlimpiadaRussiaPolyus (largest holder: Fund for Support of Islamic Organizations, 46.35%, after Said Kerimov gave up his stake in 2022) 32 331.44 Moz (2024) 18
Sukhoi LogRussiaPolyus40 Moz reserves, not yet producing 18
South DeepSouth AfricaGold Fields32.8 Moz reserves (2018) 17

Who mines it

World mine production: 3,300 t in 2025 (estimate), 3,280 t in 2024. The top five produced 41% of the 2025 total. 1

Mine production, 2025 estimate (tonnes)1

China380 t
Russia310 t
Australia280 t
Canada200 t
United States160 t
Ghana150 t
Mexico140 t
Kazakhstan130 t
Uzbekistan130 t
Peru110 t
Indonesia90 t
South Africa90 t
Brazil80 t
Other countries1,000 t

US: Nevada produced about 64% and Alaska 22% of domestic mined gold in 2025. 1

How it trades

CME metals futures & options, avg daily volume (2025)
988k contracts
A record 19
Micro Gold futures, avg daily volume (2025)
325k contracts
19
Gold options, avg daily volume (2025)
96k contracts
19
GLD shares traded, Oct 23, 2026
10.1M
7

Most gold trades over the counter in London. The LBMA publishes weekly 12-week averages of turnover; daily trade data is sold through licensed data vendors, so no OTC total is shown here. The main COMEX gold contract's volume isn't broken out in CME's release. 20

Timeline

Big events, breakthroughs, people and places.

  1. c. 4600 BC
    Earliest known worked gold, in the Varna necropolis.34
    Varna, Bulgaria
  2. c. 650–600 BC
    First coins, struck in electrum, a natural gold-silver alloy. Pure gold coins follow under Croesus, c. 560–540 BC.3536
    Lydia (Türkiye)
  3. 1848–1855
    California Gold Rush.26
    Sutter's Mill, Coloma, CA
  4. 1851
    Australian gold rush.37
    New South Wales and Victoria
  5. 1886
    Gold discovered on the Witwatersrand, the basin that has produced more gold than anywhere else.3839
    Johannesburg, South Africa
  6. 1896–1899
    Klondike Gold Rush.40
    Yukon, Canada
  7. 1919
    The London Gold Fixing begins.41
    N M Rothschild, London
  8. Apr 5, 1933
    Executive Order 6102 bans most private gold ownership in the US.42
    Franklin D. Roosevelt
  9. Jan 30, 1934
    Gold Reserve Act becomes law. The next day, Roosevelt resets the price from $20.67 to $35 an ounce.43
  10. 1937
    First gold arrives at Fort Knox.21
    Kentucky
  11. Dec 31, 1941
    Fort Knox holdings peak at 649.6M oz.21
  12. Jul 1944
    Bretton Woods pegs the dollar to gold at $35 and creates the IMF.44
    Bretton Woods, NH
  13. 1958
    Muruntau discovered; now one of the largest gold mines.4546
    Uzbekistan
  14. 1961–1968
    The London Gold Pool defends the $35 price.47
  15. 1965
    Newmont starts open-pit mining on the newly found Carlin Trend.27
    Nevada
  16. Aug 15, 1971
    Nixon closes the gold window, ending dollar convertibility.48
    Richard Nixon
  17. 1973
    US official gold price set at $42.22/oz, still the book value today.21
  18. 1973
    The New York Fed vault peaks at more than 12,000 t.11
    Manhattan
  19. Dec 31, 1974
    Private gold ownership becomes legal again in the US.4950
    Gerald Ford
  20. Jan 21, 1980
    Price spikes to $850/oz.51
  21. 1988
    Grasberg discovered.27
    Papua, Indonesia
  22. 1999
    Washington Agreement caps European central-bank gold sales at about 400 t a year. The UK sells 395 t from 1999 to 2002 at an average of about $275/oz.5253
    Gordon Brown
  23. Nov 18, 2004
    GLD launches, making gold trade like a stock.7
    NYSE
  24. Jan 21, 2005
    iShares Gold Trust (IAU) launches.25
  25. Sep 2011
    Then-record of about $1,900/oz.54
  26. 2015
    The LBMA Gold Price replaces the London Fix.23
    London
  27. 2017
    Polyus wins the rights to Sukhoi Log (40 Moz of reserves).18
    Siberia
  28. 2019
    Barrick and Newmont form the Nevada Gold Mines joint venture (61.5% / 38.5%).16
    Nevada
  29. Jan 29, 2026
    All-time high of $5,501.70/oz (LBMA AM).23
  30. Jun 2026
    Price falls about 27% from the peak, to about $4,026 (Jun 30 PM).23
  31. Sep 2026
    London vaults hold a record 9,821 t; the Bank of England holds 5,782 t.1312
    London

Sources

  1. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Gold (public domain)
  2. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025: Gold (public domain)
  3. USGS Data Series 140, Gold historical statistics (world production 1900–2022; public domain)
  4. USGS FAQ: How much gold has been found in the world?
  5. International Monetary Fund, International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity (IRFCL), official reserve assets, gold volume. Accessed Oct 26, 2026
  6. IMF factsheet: Gold in the IMF
  7. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD): trust holdings, historical archive, Oct 23, 2026
  8. SPDR Gold MiniShares (GLDM): trust holdings, historical archive, Oct 23, 2026
  9. iShares Gold Trust (IAU): tonnes in trust, Oct 23, 2026
  10. Tether: XAU₮ reserve reports and USDT reserve attestation (BDO), Jun 30, 2026
  11. Federal Reserve Bank of New York: The Gold Vault
  12. Bank of England: Gold
  13. LBMA: London vault holdings data
  14. US Treasury: Status Report of U.S. Government Gold Reserve, Sep 2026
  15. Die Zeit, Jan 2026, on where the Bundesbank stores its gold
  16. Barrick: Nevada Gold Mines
  17. Mining.com: world's largest gold mines
  18. Polyus: operations
  19. CME Group: record annual ADV in 2025 (press release)
  20. LBMA: daily trade reporting data
  21. US Mint: Fort Knox Bullion Depository
  22. Federal Reserve History
  23. LBMA quarterly market reports (Q1 and Q2 2026)
  24. The American Presidency Project (UCSB): Executive Order 6102
  25. iShares Gold Trust fact sheet
  26. Wikipedia (secondary source)
  27. Gold Fields: history of the Carlin Trend and Grasberg
  28. iShares Gold Trust, Form 10-K for 2025 (custodian JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., London Branch; gold held in New York and London)
  29. Swiss National Bank: Questions and answers on asset management (gold storage)
  30. Banque de France: 2025 results (129 t held in New York sold and replaced in Europe)
  31. Reserve Bank of India: Half Yearly Report on Management of Foreign Exchange Reserves, Oct 2025 to Mar 2026
  32. Polyus press release: Changes in shareholder structure (May 2022)
  33. TASS: Kerimov transfers his stake in Polyus to Foundation for Support of Islamic Organizations
  34. Varna municipality: Varna Chalcolithic Necropolis, oldest gold treasure (c. 4600 to 4200 BC)
  35. British Museum: Room 68 Money gallery guide (first coins, Lydia, electrum)
  36. British Museum: gold stater of Croesus, Lydia, c. 560 to 540 BC (1841,0726.522)
  37. National Museum of Australia: Gold rushes
  38. South African History Online: Johannesburg timeline (main reef found 1886)
  39. USGS: Quartz-pebble-conglomerate gold deposits (Witwatersrand ~40% of all gold produced)
  40. Parks Canada: Discovery Claim National Historic Site (Klondike)
  41. LBMA: The first gold fixing, Sep 12, 1919
  42. The American Presidency Project (UCSB): Executive Order 6102, Apr 5, 1933
  43. Federal Reserve History: Gold Reserve Act of 1934
  44. Federal Reserve History: Creation of the Bretton Woods System
  45. Wilde et al., Setting of the giant Muruntau gold deposit, Journal of the Virtual Explorer (discovered 1958)
  46. NMMC (Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Company): history
  47. BIS: Markets Committee history (Gold Pool, Nov 1961 to 1968)
  48. Federal Reserve History: Nixon Ends Convertibility of U.S. Dollars to Gold
  49. Public Law 93-373 (S. 2665, 1974), private gold ownership effective Dec 31, 1974
  50. The American Presidency Project (UCSB): Executive Order 11825, Dec 31, 1974
  51. Christian Science Monitor, Jan 22, 1980: gold's London afternoon fix of $850
  52. ECB: Joint statement on gold, Sep 26, 1999
  53. Hansard, May 20, 2002: UK gold sales (395 t, 17 auctions, average $274.95/oz)
  54. Financial Post (Reuters), Sep 6, 2011: gold jumps to record

Figures are as published by each source on the dates shown. Derived numbers say so and show their math.