Gold contributed over $78 bln to economies of top 15 mining countries in 2012

Market Watch (9/10) -- A report titled “The Direct Economic Impact of Gold” released Tuesday from the World Gold Council and PricewaterhouseCoopers has quite a few mind-boggling statistics on the precious metal. Among the key findings included in the report: gold mining, in terms of supply, contributed over $78.4 billion to the economies of the top 15 mining countries in 2012. That’s equivalent to the gross domestic product of Ecuador. “From mining and refining, to fabrication and consumer demand, it is clear that gold makes a positive contribution to economic growth along the entire value chain,” said Terry Heymann, Director of Gold for Development at the World Gold Council, in a statement. Global gold supply reached 4,477 metric tons in 2012, with about two third coming from mining and one third from gold recycling. Last year, investment demand, which consists of bar and coin and gold-backed exchange-traded funds, accounted for 35% of global gold demand and central-bank purchases accounted for 12% while jewelry accounted for 43%, the report said. Use in technology/manufacturing accounted for about 10% of gold demand. Demand for gold GCZ3 , across the top 13 gold-consuming countries, generated an estimated $38.3 billion economic contribution. Consumer demand for physical gold products from the 13 largest gold-consuming countries directly generated about $110 billion in economic value, the report said. Gold’s importance in the economies of developing countries is particularly notable. It accounts for 15% of Papua New Guinea’s GDP, 8% of Ghana’s GDP and 6% of Tanzania’s GDP, according to the report. China produced 14.4%, of the world’s mined gold in 2012, followed by Australia (8.7%), the United States (8.1%) and Russia (8%).