How Much Gold Has Been Mined?
About 224,000 tonnes of gold have been mined in all of history, according to the World Gold Council's latest count (end of September 2026); adding up US Geological Survey figures gives about 213,000 tonnes to the end of 2025. All of it would fit in a cube about 22.6 metres on each side, worth about $29.3 trillion at today's price. Two-thirds has been mined since 1950 and about a third since 2000; mines add some 3,300 tonnes a year, about 1.5% more. Almost none of it is lost: it is melted down and reused.
World gold mine production, 1900–2025
tonnesYearly output: USGS Data Series 140 (1900–2022) and Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025–2026 (2023–2025); 2025 is a USGS estimate. Total: USGS Open-File Report 02-303 (Butterman and Amey, 2005) (total world gold production from prehistory through 2000 was conservatively estimated at 142,000 t) plus the yearly figures since; our calculation.
By decade
| Decade | Mined (t) | Per year | Of all-time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s (2020–2025) | 19,160 | 3,193 | 9.0% |
| 2010s | 30,120 | 3,012 | 14.1% |
| 2000s | 24,680 | 2,468 | 11.6% |
| 1990s | 23,180 | 2,318 | 10.9% |
| 1980s | 15,380 | 1,538 | 7.2% |
| 1970s | 12,960 | 1,296 | 6.1% |
| 1960s | 13,640 | 1,364 | 6.4% |
| 1950s | 9,584 | 958 | 4.5% |
| 1940s | 9,637 | 964 | 4.5% |
| 1930s | 9,185 | 919 | 4.3% |
| 1920s | 5,634 | 563 | 2.6% |
| 1910s | 6,598 | 660 | 3.1% |
| 1900s | 5,415 | 542 | 2.5% |
USGS yearly figures; shares of the all-time total are our calculation.
Before 1900
| Period | Mined (t) | Of all-time |
|---|---|---|
| 1493–1599 | 755 | 0.4% |
| 1600s | 912 | 0.4% |
| 1700s | 1,900 | 0.9% |
| 1800–1849 | 1,185 | 0.6% |
| 1850–1899 | 10,012 | 4.7% |
| Before 1493 | ≈ 13,400 | 6.3% |
1493–1899: Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, 1900 (Soetbeer's estimates to 1885), converted from troy ounces; early centuries are rough reconstructions. Before 1493: what the USGS long-run total implies after subtracting the later figures; a rough estimate covering Egypt, Rome, medieval Europe, Africa and Asia.
Where all the gold is now
World Gold Council, end of September 2026Rounded to the nearest 100 tonnes; source: World Gold Council, above-ground stocks. Jewellery is the largest store of gold, much of it in India and China. Central banks hold about 18%.
How big is that?
Gold is very dense (19.3 grams per cubic centimetre). All 224,000 tonnes would make a cube about 22.6 m on each side, about the volume of four or five Olympic swimming pools. One year's mine output (3,300 t) is a cube of about 5.5 m.
Shared out among everyone alive today, it comes to about 27.2 grams each, worth about $3,555 at today's price.
Why the counts differ
Nobody weighed the gold of the Roman Empire, so totals rely on estimates for the early centuries and on mine-production data that differ between sources. The World Gold Council uses higher figures for recent mine supply (including small-scale mining) than the USGS, which is why its total (224,200 t) is about 5% above our USGS-based count (213,000 t to 2025).
Unlike most metals, gold barely corrodes and is too valuable to throw away, so almost all of it still exists: an estimated 85–99% of all gold ever mined, according to estimates cited by the USGS.
Gold supply
How Much Gold Has Been Mined? FAQ
How much gold has been mined in total?
About 224,200 tonnes as of end of September 2026, according to the World Gold Council. Adding up US Geological Survey figures (142,000 tonnes up to 2000, plus yearly production since) gives about 213,000 tonnes to the end of 2025.
How much gold is mined each year?
About 3,300 tonnes (106.1 million oz) in 2025, a USGS estimate. Output has hovered around 3,000–3,300 tonnes a year since 2015. See gold production by country for who mines it.
When was most gold mined?
Recently. About 70% of all gold ever mined came out of the ground after 1950, and about 35% after 2000. Before the California (1848) and Australian (1851) gold rushes, the whole world mined only a few hundred tonnes a year at most.
How much would all the gold ever mined be worth?
About $29.3 trillion at today's price of $4,059 an ounce. For comparison, about a fifth of it (52,400 t) is held as investment bars, coins and ETFs.
How big would all the gold ever mined be?
A cube about 22.6 metres on each side. Gold weighs 19.3 tonnes per cubic metre, so each cubic metre holds about 620,000 troy ounces.
Sources: U.S. Geological Survey (Data Series 140, Mineral Commodity Summaries 1996–2026, Open-File Reports; public domain); World Gold Council (above-ground stocks and below-ground figures, quoted); Annual Report of the Director of the US Mint, 1900. Running totals, shares, years of output, cube sizes and dollar values are Corgano's calculations; dollar values use the live gold price. Researched November 2026.
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@misc{corgano2026howmuchgoldhas, author = {{Corgano}}, title = {How Much Gold Has Been Mined?}, howpublished = {\url{https://goldprice.corgano.com/how-much-gold-has-been-mined}}, year = {2026}, note = {Corgano Gold Price, accessed 2026-11-04}}