Gold export data suggests that Peru, one of the world’s largest producers, mines nearly as much informally as it does fo

According to official mining output records, Peru mined about 90 tonnes of gold in 2023, far ahead of any other South American country. That puts it within the world’s top 15 producers, just below the 10th place, as shown in the chart.

However, this official figure captures only part of Peru’s gold economy. Customs export data shows a striking discrepancy: about 80 tonnes of unaccounted gold in 2023, according to the Peruvian Institute of Economics. That’s gold whose value appears in export statistics but not mine-output records — and it is almost as large as the official figure based on mine records.

Some of this gap may be due to re-exports, inventories, or recycled gold. But given how big the discrepancy is, Peru’s authorities, researchers, and media see it as a practical indicator of the scale of informal and illegal mining. An article in The Economist, for example, compares Peru with other countries using this approach, and argues that gold has become more profitable than drugs for many gangs in South America.

Illegal gold mining is widely recognized as a major issue in Peru and the region, frequently linked to environmental damage and organized crime. This context matters today: the steep recent increase in gold prices raises incentives around unregulated extraction and trade.

→ Our Minerals Data Explorer has more data on metals, minerals, and mining. This United Nations report provides more information about illegal mining and its environmental effects.

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