African Importers
Africa imported $452.9 million worth of gold led by the following countries:
1. Ghana: $303.7 million
2. Egypt: $103.6 million
3. Mauritius: $21.4 million
4. Tunisia: $12.3 million
5. Morocco: $8.1 million
6. South Africa: $1.9 million
7. Senegal: $804,000
8. Libya: $788,000
9. Chad: $138,000
10. Seychelles: $116,000
Asian Importers
Asia imported $92.3 billion worth of gold led by the following countries:
1. Hong Kong: $36.2 billion
2. India: $35 billion
3. Thailand: $7.2 billion
4. Turkey: $3.4 billion
5. Malaysia: $2.8 billion
6. Singapore: $2.1 billion
7. Taiwan: $1.7 billion
8. South Korea: $1.2 billion
9. Cambodia: $891.2 million
10. Jordan: $867 million
European Union Importers
European Union imported $32.6 billion worth of gold led by the following member countries:
1. United Kingdom: $18.7 billion
2. Germany: $4.5 billion
3. Italy: $4 billion
4. Austria: $2.2 billion
5. Belgium: $909.4 million
6. Netherlands: $865.4 million
7. France: $545.3 million
8. Czech Republic: $206.3 million
9. Spain: $155 million
10. Luxembourg: $64.4 million
Latin American and Caribbean Importers
Latin America (excluding Mexico) and the Caribbean imported $319.5 million worth of gold led by the following countries:
1. Dominican Republic: $106.1 million
2. Cayman Islands: $87.3 million
3. Bolivia: $40.7 million
4. Panama: $39.2 million
5. British Virgin Is: $22.4 million
6. Costa Rica: $16.1 million
7. Brazil: $3.1 million
8. Netherlands Antilles: $2.0 million
9. Guatemala: $721,000
10. Bahamas: $527,000
Middle Eastern Importers
Middle East imported $21 billion worth of gold led by the following countries:
1. United Arab Emirates: $12.6 billion
2. Saudi Arabia: $5.1 billion
3. Jordan: $867 million
4. Kuwait: $657.2 million
5. Iran: $511.9 million
6. Oman: $414.2 million
7. Bahrain: $312.2 million
8. Qatar: $255.6 million
9. Lebanon: $206.3 million
10. Iraq: $38.6 million
North American Importers
North America imported $17.5 billion worth of gold led by the following countries:
1. United States: $10.8 billion
2. Canada: $6.5 billion
3. Mexico: $195.9 million
Oceanian Importers
Oceania imported $2.9 billion worth of gold led by the following countries:
1. Australia: $2.9 billion
2. New Zealand: $16.7 million
3. New Caledonia: $259,000
4. French Polynesia: $69,000
5. Vanuatu: $22,000
6. Papua New Guinea: $7,000
7. Samoa: $5,000
8. Fiji: $3,000
9. Cook Islands: $2,000
Data source: Trade Map, International Trade Centre, www.intracen.org/marketanalysis
To see the 25 fastest-growing gold importers from 2011 to 2015, use the slidebar on the accompanying list. Overall, the 5-year percentage gain for globally imported gold was 31.8%.
Research Note: Import numbers rarely match the source exporters’ stats. Reasons for import-export statistical discrepancies includere-exports, time lags, misallocations, distinct trade reporting systems, different quantity measurements and country confidentiality rules. Also, transportation and insurance
costs are sometimes added to import totals.
This list reveals the top 10 gold importers based on their percentage of global import purchases (shown within parenthesis). In 2015, world gold imports totaled US$238.1 billion.
Fastest-Growing Gold Importing Countries