Top 10 gold producing nations

With markets across the world suffering from severe jolts, investors are turning towards gold as the safest option to put their money in.

Gold prices rose to dizzying heights in India in recent times.

While this is good news for investors in the yellow metal, it is bad news for those who are planning to buy gold jewellery.

British Geological Survey recently published a list of countries by production of gold.

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1. China
Gold production: 320,000 kg

China is undeniably a global economic powerhouse.

Since the introduction of market-based economic reforms in 1978, China has become the world's fastest-growing major economy, and the world's largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods.

It is the world's second-largest economy, after the United States, by both nominal GDP and purchasing power parity.

While the global financial crisis was a catastrophe for most economies in 2009, it was more an opportunity than a challenge for China.

Backed by its huge foreign exchange reserves, China first announced a massive stimulus plan to stir up its domestic economy and then began to focus on sealing deals that entailed natural resources -- oil and metals, primarily.

The private sector in China also decided to make hay while the sun shone and went on a major worldwide buying spree.

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2. USA
Gold production: 223,323 kg

According to the International Monetary Fund, the US GDP of $15 trillion constitutes 23 per cent of the gross world product at market exchange rates and over 20 per cent of the gross world product at purchasing power parity.

The United States is the largest importer of goods and third largest exporter, though exports per capita are relatively low.

In 2010, the total US trade deficit was $634.9 billion.

Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, and Germany are its top trading partners.

The country ranks ninth in the world in nominal GDP per capita and sixth in GDP per capita at PPP.

The US dollar is the world's primary reserve currency.

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3. Australia
Gold production: 222,000 kg

Australia is the world's thirteenth largest economy and has the world's seventh-highest per capita income.

Australia has a market economy with high GDP per capita and low rate of poverty.

Total government debt in Australia is about $190 billion.

Australia has among the highest house prices and some of the highest household debt levels in the world.

The service sector of the economy, including tourism, education, and financial services, accounts for about 70 per cent of GDP.

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4. Russia
Gold production: 205,236 kg

Russia has the world's 9th largest economy by nominal GDP or the 6th largest by purchasing power parity.

Russia has a market economy with enormous natural resources, particularly oil and natural gas.
It has the 10th largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the 6th largest by purchasing power parity.

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5. South Africa
Gold production: 197,628 kg

South Africa is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank, one of only four countries in Africa in this category (the others being Botswana, Gabon and Mauritius).

It has the largest economy in Africa, and the 28th-largest in the world.

South Africa has a mixed economy with high rate of poverty and low GDP per capita.

About a quarter of the population is unemployed and lives on less than $1.25 a day.

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6. Peru
Gold production: 182,390 kg

Peru is a developing country with a market-oriented economy.

Its 2010 per capita income as estimated by the International Monetary Fund stood at $5,195 and it has a high Human Development Index score of 0.723 based on 2010 data.

Historically, the country's economic performance has been tied to exports.

According to 2010 data, 31.3% of its total population is poor.

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7. Indonesia
Gold production: 127,716 kg

Indonesia has a mixed economy in which both the private sector and government play significant roles.

The country is the largest economy in Southeast Asia and a member of the G-20 major economies.

Indonesia's estimated gross domestic product (nominal), as of 2010 was $706.73 billion with estimated nominal per capita GDP at $3,015.

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8. Canada
Gold production: 97,367 kg

Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations, with a high per-capita income.

It is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the G8.

It is one of the world's top 10 trading nations.

Canada is a mixed economy, ranking above the US and most western European nations on the Heritage Foundation's index of economic freedom.

The largest foreign importers of Canadian goods are the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

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9. Ghana
Gold production: 97,197 kg

The economy of Ghana was listed as The World's Fastest Growing Economy in 2011 in economic research led by Economy Watch.

Ghana is a Middle Income Economy.

Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has more than twice the per capita output of the poorer countries in West Africa.

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10. Uzbekistan
Gold production: 73,000 kg

Uzbekistan is now the world's sixth-largest producer and second-largest exporter of cotton.
It is also a regionally significant producer of natural gas, coal, copper, oil, silver and uranium.

While official unemployment is very low, underemployment -- especially in rural areas -- is estimated to be at least 20 per cent.