Gold plays a very important role as it is known as the safe haven when things get volatile. Investors mostly run into gold when the economy in on the edge of fluctuation, and they store it as an investment too. The supply of gold circulating in the market is limited, but what is the exact amount?

It has been said that the above ground amount of gold all over the world ranges from 120,000 to 140,000 tons. Of which, the US Reserve owns 6 percent or 8,000 tons of the total amount of gold. A total of 25 percent of above earth gold is publicly owned. They can be found in paper based international bond markets and central bank vaults.

Obviously, 75 percent of the total amount of gold is privately owned. They are on the hand of investors or not in the form of jewelry, bullion or coin.

The amount of privately owned gold is three times the amount of publicly owned gold. It can be clearly seen how powerful gold is as an investment against market volatility. They have been purchased from time to time no matter how high the price is as it serves as a great commodity in times of economic trouble.

Although it has been said that the supply of gold is limited, gold is continuously mined and refined every year no matter how difficult and risky the process is, thus the overall supply of gold is still increasing. The increase may not be as high as the demand, but the addition to the supply has a big impact on the gold industry.

Nobody can give the precise amount of gold in the world. The only possible thing to do is to give approximation based on presented data and evidences, but one thing is very clear - the price of gold will continue to increase regardless of how much is publicly owned and how much is privately owned.