Figure of the month: 6.6 trillion

There are more than 186,000 tonnes of already extracted gold (as of January 2016) on this planet: in the form of jewellery, as coins, as important components of medical processes and modern technology – and, of course, as a means of investment. At a price of €35.74 per gram of gold, the total value of the gold produced would amount to around €6.677 trillion.

Most investors are likely to believe the main use of this precious metal might be for investment purposes: after all, gold has proven a hard currency in times of crisis time and again. However, gold is actually used primarily for the production of jewellery, at 48 per cent, representing approximately 90,300 tonnes, which corresponds to a current market value (as of end of January 2017) of €3.19 trillion. Far less than half of it, at 20.5 per cent or 37,870 tonnes respectively, is actually used for investment purposes. This comprises gold bars and coins, as well as gold deposited to physically back certain investment instruments such as Xetra-Gold. The gold invested in total has a current market value of around €1.36 trillion. Gold as a safe haven is of high significance for most states, which is why the gold reserves of all central banks across the world amount to 31,700 tonnes, reflecting a market value of just under €1.13 trillion. As a result, central banks hold a total of 17 per cent of the total gold stock. The remaining 14 per cent of the existing gold holdings – around 30,000 tonnes – are used in industry and medical technology: as dental gold, in smart phones, as catalysts in chemical industry processes, and, of course, to adorn clothing and fashion accessories.

By the start of 2017, the volume of gold produced is estimated to have risen by almost 4,000 tonnes, and the current demand is unlikely to change fundamentally over the course of the year.