Annual production of gold in Saudi Arabia 2011-2020

According to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia produced approximately 14.3 tons of gold in 2020. The global production of gold exceeded three thousand tons that year.

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction

The natural resources and mining sector, including the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas, the mining of coal, the mining of metal ores, and the mining and quarrying of stone and other minerals, remained a pillar of the Kingdom’s economy. In 2020, the mining and quarrying industry contributed over 530 thousand million Saudi riyals to the Saudi gross domestic product (GDP). Given the country’s large reserves of fossil fuels, crude oil and gas extraction was by far the main revenue generator of the Saudi mining and quarrying industry. As of 2020, Saudi Arabia has positioned itself as one of the world’s leading producers of crude oil. In terms of fuel and mining product exports, Saudi Arabia was also a global leader, exporting over 120 billion U.S. dollars worth of products in 2020.

Bright outlook for the non-oil mining sector

Besides gold, Saudi Arabia also boasted rich deposits of other precious metals and minerals, including over 40 different types of mineral deposits such as copper, silver, zinc, aluminum, and phosphate. Crude steel also represented a strategically significant non-oil sector for the Kingdom’s economy. With the mining industry positioned as the third economic pillar of the country under the Saudi Vision 2030 plan and trillions-worth of untapped mineral deposits, the mining and quarrying industry is poised to grow exponentially helping to ease the shift from an oil-centered economy.