by Mark O’Byrne, Gold Core:

Thomson Reuters GFMS have compiled an interesting high level history of the gold industry in the last fifty years.

Topics covered and interesting historical facts to note include:

– Gold market size
– Gold mine production “peaked in 2015”

– South African production collapse from 1,000 tonnes
– South African gold was flown to London and Zurich and an airliner had its own designated landing areas at Heathrow where gold moved directly from the place to secure vaults

– It may still do – that is shrouded in secrecy!

– Political concerns in France in 1968 saw massive demand
– Strong demand in Japan in late 1980s when insurance companies were investing up to 3% of portfolios in gold

– Record demand in the wake of the financial crisis
– Investment in gold – Coin and bar demand rising globally

– Massive uptake of bullion in the Far East, especially China

– History of gold shows gold’s continuing importance as safe haven asset

Demand for physical gold investment. Source: GFMS Gold Survey

GFMS Gold Survey is recognized as an important source of information on developments in the gold market and have celebrated the Gold Survey’s 50th anniversary, by conducting a high-level look at the history of the gold market in the past half century.

Access How the gold industry has changed over 50 years here

Read More