How Much Gold Exists for Everyone Based on Global Reserves?

Gold. Humans seem to love it. Every person would want it if they could have it, as its financial value and luster to the human eye have never faded over the millennia.

The world has a total of 244,000 metric tons of gold in reserve. While that may seem like a lot, is it enough to make everyone on Earth rich? On the surface, it sounds appealing to have some in your pocket. But when it comes to sharing with everyone, it may not be as promising as it sounds. Earth’s human population is more than 8 billion. That’s a lot of people to split the world’s gold supply.

Gold for every person on Earth

Imagine that you entered the world with a certain portion of gold allotted to you. However, that portion is divided by 8,161,972,572. Moreover, the amount of gold equates to 244,000 megatons. When you factor that in, the prospect of receiving the precious metal simply for being born does not sound as exciting as it does at first glance.

When 244,000 megatons of gold are divided by the population number of 8,161,972,572, the result is 0.00002989, which translates to 29.8 grams once the decimal is moved to its correct position. Rounding up, everyone in the world receives a total of 30 grams of gold. While this may not seem significant, it amounts to $2,928.

Although that may not be the value many would hope for, it is not an inconsequential amount of money either. Thirty grams of gold can go a long way if used wisely, or it can even be turned into a significant amount of jewelry if it suits someone’s fancy.

The world’s reserves

The valuable metal is extracted from below the Earth’s surface every year, adding to the world’s total supply. Massive mines around the world operate every single day to find this precious and coveted material. Australia and China hold the second and first places, respectively, on the list of top gold producers.

China, in particular, does not have the enormous mines found in the US or Australia. They operate many small mines and an efficient smelting process, allowing them to produce more of the valuable metal than other countries. Recently however, China has uncovered a significant gold deposit in Hunan province, valued at an estimated $83 billion.

The U.S. has the largest gold reserves of any country on Earth, totaling 8,133 megatons. Germany ranks second with 3,351 megatons, and China is eighth with 2,279 megatons. Many countries maintain gold supplies in the range of 2,000 megatons. However, since, as mentioned, thousands of megatons of the stuff are extracted annually, raising the question of how much will be available per person in the future, particularly as population growth levels off.