The International Monetary Fund (IMF) October 2019 World Economic Outlook Report, has ranked Ghana first in Africa and sixth in the world with the United States of America in gold production.
In a period of 3 years [2016-2018] Ghana has accrued US$7.4 billion from production of gold
China is the leading producer of gold in the world with estimated US$13.1 billion earnings, followed by Australia and Russia with production incomes of US$9.3 billion and US$8.5 billion dollar respectively. Kazakhstan was 5th with total gold earnings of US$8.4 billion. Peru, Canada and Brazil were 8th, 9th and 10th respectively with total value of gold earnings of US$6.2 billion, US$6.2 billion and US$5.4 billion respectively.
South Africa was 2nd in Africa but 11th in the world with total gold earnings of US$4.5 billion. Previously, Ghana was the second largest gold producer in Africa and the 9th largest producer in the world.
According to the IMF report, demand for gold can be classified into industrial, jewelry, investment, and net official purchases by Central Banks and international organizations. More than half of newly mined gold is however used in jewelry.
Ghana bagged US$2.9 billion in gold exports, up by 2.7 percent in year-on-year terms between January and June 2019. This contributed significantly to the improved trade surplus of US$1.9 billion, representing 2.8 percent of GDP, compared with a surplus of US$1.25 billion (1.9 percent of GDP) recorded for the first half of 2018.
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Meanwhile, the first gold pour of AngloGold Ashanti in December 2019 is expected to increase the export earnings of gold for the country. The company revealed it was on track to produce the first gold ounces at its redeveloped Obuasi mine by the end of December 2019 after resumption of operation early this year.
