World Gold Council: Robust gold mining industry is essential for global economy

According to the recent report by the World Gold Council, strong and robust gold mining sector is necessary to maintain healthy global economy, as the gold mining industry was directly responsible for contributing $83.1 billion to the global economy in 2013.

When expanding its indirect contribution, that figure surged to $171.6 billion.

The data was delivered after analyzing 47 gold producing countries, which account for more than 90% of the world’s gold production.

The report also indicated that more than 1 million people were directly employed by gold mining companies and a further 3 million were employed from the industry’s supplier and support services.

Over 60% of the countries analyzed were low or lower-middle income countries and that gold miners operating in these areas have shown to participate in improvements regarding the income status of the host nations.

John Mulligan, head of member and investor relations at the WGC noted that the total economic impact of gold mining is significant, as it is greater than the GDP of over 150 different countries (which is at about $171.6 billion) and significantly bigger than the total value of global overseas aid in recent years.

“Our findings highlight that commercial gold mining is a major source of income and driver of economic growth, playing an important role in supporting the sustainable socio-economic development of host nations and communities,” he said.

70% of the value that is distributed into a host nation’s economy from gold miners goes to suppliers and employees. Governments' earnings related to gold mining usually come from corporate and income tax, rather than permits or royalties.

According to the author of the report, it has been difficult to measure the economic impacts of the gold mining industry in general, with it usually being limited to single countries.

A final finding from the report showed that gold mining’s direct global economic contribution between 2000 and 2013 outpaced the rise in gold’s value during over that time sevenfold.