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Who buys South Africa’s gold? Export destinations 2024

In 2024, South Africa exported $29 billion of gold (386 tonnes), 5.2% of the world total. Its main destinations were China (31%), the United Kingdom (22%) and India (22%). South Africa was the world’s 5th-largest exporter of gold.

Summary

Value
$29billion
Tonnes
386tonnes
Share of world total
5.2%
World rank
5th
Routes to the main destinations. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Destinations

The 20 main destinations in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD billions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
China9Tonnes: 124USD per tonne: $73,061,14331.1%Air
United Kingdom6.4Tonnes: 83USD per tonne: $77,568,73622.1%Air
India6.3Tonnes: 83USD per tonne: $76,932,60021.9%Air
Switzerland2.8Tonnes: 37USD per tonne: $74,518,9639.6%Air
Italy0.74Tonnes: 10USD per tonne: $73,563,1882.6%Air
United States0.68Tonnes: 8USD per tonne: $81,424,8112.4%Air
Singapore re-exports0.55Tonnes: 8USD per tonne: $71,511,5421.9%Air
Hong Kong re-exports0.5Tonnes: 7USD per tonne: $72,074,1241.7%Air
Canada0.45Tonnes: 5USD per tonne: $81,398,9611.5%Air
Uganda0.4Tonnes: 5USD per tonne: $79,270,7921.4%Air
Australia0.34Tonnes: 5USD per tonne: $66,085,6061.2%Air
Saudi Arabia0.28Tonnes: 4USD per tonne: $71,951,7430.95%Air
Belgium re-exports0.26Tonnes: 4USD per tonne: $65,765,4760.91%Air
Spain0.14Tonnes: 2USD per tonne: $76,043,2910.5%Air
Turkey0.06Tonnes: 1USD per tonne: $65,698,3250.2%Air
Thailand0.05Tonnes: 1USD per tonne: $76,255,5590.16%Air
Qatar0.01Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $65,657,6100.02%Air
Bahrain< 0.01Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $65,303,3200.01%Air
Germany< 0.01Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $76,434,8950.01%Air
Malaysia< 0.01Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $81,091,2000%Air

Trend

Who it sells to

China has been its main destination since 2021

Value in USD billions. The five largest destinations in 2024.

  • China 9
  • United Kingdom 6.4
  • India 6.3
  • Switzerland 2.8
  • Italy 0.74

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
China09
United Kingdom0.036.4
India< 0.016.3
Switzerland0.012.8
Italy0.10.74

Sources and methodology

Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.

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