I just stumbled upon an interesting question: how much gold is there left on Earth, really? It got me curious because, as a trader, I naturally want to know what I’m actually trading.

So, how much gold is there on Earth? According to current estimates, about 212,582 tonnes of gold have been mined throughout history. The crazy thing is that practically all of it is still somewhere in circulation. Gold isn’t consumed the way oil or gas is—it remains intact. And because it’s indestructible, we currently estimate that there are about 190,000 tonnes of above-ground gold in the world.

Every year, around 2,500 to 3,000 tonnes of new gold are added from the mines. But here’s the interesting part: over 30% of the annual gold supply already comes from recycling, mainly from old jewelry. That means the available amount of gold actually stays relatively stable. Most of it is processed into jewelry (78%), while electronics, medicine, and dentistry together use about 12%. The rest goes into financial instruments.

How much gold will there be left? That’s the next question. At the current mining rate, it would take over 60 years until the known deposits are exhausted. But honestly, that probably will never happen. Mining companies invest less and less in new mines because large undiscovered deposits have become rare. Instead, they will likely switch entirely to recycling at some point. That also makes sense when you consider how much gold is in electronic scrap.

Now, about the price—this is where it really gets interesting. Gold has long been a pure means of payment: the Romans used it that way, and later it was the Goldstandard on which entire monetary systems were built. Until Nixon abolished the Goldstandard in 1971. Since then, the gold price hasn’t fallen—it has risen. Massively, in fact.

In the 1970s, it went from $35 to $850 per ounce. That was the oil crisis, inflation, and political unrest. Investors were frightened and bought gold as a safe haven. Then it stayed relatively stable below $500 until the turn of the millennium. Then it started climbing again—9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, COVID-19 in 2020. Every global shock pushed the gold price higher. In 2022, gold broke through the $2,000 mark. And now, in May 2026, gold has reached clearly higher levels.

There are people who talk about a gold bubble. And yes, gold hit a peak of $1,896.50 in 2011, then fell by over $800 by 2015, and rose again afterward. That was the biggest correction in recent decades. But compared with other assets, it was moderate. Gold is actually relatively stable as an investment.

The XAU/USD trading pair is interesting for traders. X stands for index, AU is Aurum—the Latin word for gold. The price is currently at high levels, driven by various factors: geopolitical tensions, the Fed’s monetary policy, inflation concerns. Technically speaking, gold has broken through key resistance levels and could continue to rise.

What I take away: gold is a limited resource, but because it can be recycled, it’s not really running out. Demand remains high. The price is driven mainly by fear and uncertainty—when investors get nervous, they want gold. And over the past decades, there have simply been enough reasons to be nervous. Will that continue? Hard to say. But with a better understanding of gold’s fundamentals, you can at least make informed decisions.