Which countries does India import its gold from?

Last week I wrote about the heavy imports from Switzerland and how gold forms the majority of it, and I went to look for the other countries that India imports its gold from.

Switzerland is by far the biggest exporter of gold and the next biggest exporter – UAE is just about a third of Switzerland.

South Africa, Australia and USA are the other big exporters but when compared with Switzerland – they are quite small.

Here is a chart that shows the top 5 countries that India imports its gold from, the figures are for 2010 – 11 and the numbers are in millions of dollars.

Which countries does India import its gold from
Which countries does India import its gold from

As you can see Switzerland exports more gold than the other 4 combined, and  the countries after that are even smaller.

Here is a list of the top 1o countries that India imports its gold from.

SWITZERLAND 22,572.04
U ARAB EMTS 7,508.28
SOUTH AFRICA 4,328.65
AUSTRALIA 3,027.45
U S A 1,070.71
HONG KONG 402.54
U K 386.17
GERMANY 180.12
CHINA P RP 147.58
NETHERLAND 68.24

Now, here is a pie chart that shows the relative share of some of the biggest gold exporters to India.

Relative share of countries that export gold to India
Relative share of countries that export gold to India

India of course has very negligible gold production, but more than a year ago I wrote a post about gold mining in India and while researching that I was surprised to find that the Ministry of Mines estimates quite a high amount of gold ores in India. With soaring gold prices, it is perhaps time for some tax sops in this sector and allowing the private sector to try to develop gold mines in India.

18 thoughts on “Which countries does India import its gold from?”

  1. Sir,
    I much grateful to providing us such a gold imports and exports info
    Pls info me about how much India produces gold and is that gold mine restricted to a sigle state or ore of gold available throught the country .
    Availability of gems in India
    And also inform me about Diamond that we imports are only South Africa or other countries

    THANK U
    Muragesh Pawadashetti

  2. Hey People,
    its really surprising article for me,
    I am Working with FICCI i.e.. ( Federation Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry)
    I look after Gems and Jewellery Division
    If anyone can tell me how is the Exports scenario of gold and Diamond and how much % of Gold business we do with other nations , that will be an awesome!!!
    If anyone has relevant data I will put that on my website, and also i ll add it on Government policies from Ficci.
    Many Thanks
    Regards,
    Raj Soni

  3. hi,

    I would be grateful if you could provide some bigest wholesale expoter of Jems & Jewellries from India who can export to Africa.

    Generally we inport of indian jem & jewe through Italy or Germany or USA

    Thanks,

    Kalyan

  4. Some interesting facts on imports, indeed India can start looking at unearthing gold in its own backyard… but it is strange to see US which has large tracts of vast yet to explore oil fields, is still after Iraq, kuwait etc…

    In India private companies in gold mining is to be opposed by one n all as we already seeing how RIL down plays its production from KG basin to make Mukesh more richer. None of the natural resources shall be allowed to be exploited by private / MNC companies. This is how both politicos and businesses are making money at the cost of average Indian tribals.

  5. Manshu,

    On an unrelated note, I was not seeing any updates on your blog after your entry on Sovereign Debt on January 17. I used to check your blog everyday for updates, but it was showing no new posts till today when I saw you’ve posted many new updates after that Jan 17. post.

    Strange!! Is it a problem at my end or did something go wrong with your host?

    1. Wow this is very strange and makes me nervous too but I am registered through email and Google Reader on the site and see regular updates. So, it doesn’t sound like it’s a hosting issue. Are you registered through email? Sometimes these emails start going to the spam folder, if you check there maybe you will find it. If you mark it not spam that should do the trick.

      Thanks for letting me know Krish – much appreciated.

  6. Hi
    You should look at the finished gold or jewellery exports from the country also. I dont have the stats but heard its very high volume by some noted jewellers.
    Also how much of this gold is purchased by the GOI.
    No I dont support private mining for gold. Its bad enough we have companies destroying the ecosystem for other metals.
    Gold is not a necessity like iron ore so doesn’t matter if we dont produce much.

    1. It is my understanding that this number includes everything gold including jewelery. Also, the government’s share in this should be 0. The last I read was that GOI bought IMF gold and nothing after that. That’s my understanding anyway.

  7. Hi Manshu,
    Don’t you think Swiz numbers are bit surprising. (no I am not connecting it with black money)
    Swiz is not gold producing/mining country but still ranks number 1 here.

    1. I tried to look at the numbers for other countries like how much China imports from who or the US but couldn’t find it. Anyway this info is from the Department of Commerce Website so should be authentic.

  8. Recently announced there is an import duty of 2% of value of gold which creates difference in the price of gold internationally and in the Indian domestic market by about 3.5 per cent per 10 grammes. This favorable arbitrage creates opportunities for gold smuggling from off-shore locations.

    As a result most of the Gold imports through these routes remains un-accounted in the official figures !!!!

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