About a quarter of the world's gold supply comes out of jewellery boxes rather than mines, which makes recycling figures a rough measure of what households are doing.
Key points
- Recycled gold supply fell about 6% year on year in Q2 2026, to roughly 326 tonnes.
- Total gold supply was steady at 1,269 tonnes, with mine production up 2% to 966 tonnes.
- The World Gold Council linked the fall to prices easing from their January highs.
- Recycling accounted for roughly 28% of total supply across 2025.
What recycling actually measures
Recycled gold is old jewellery, scrap and broken pieces sold back into the market and refined into fine metal. It is one of the two sources of supply, alongside mine production, and across 2025 it accounted for a little over a quarter of the total. When recycling volumes move, they are telling you something about the collective decisions of ordinary gold owners rather than about mining companies.
Why the figure fell
Gold came down from the record highs set in January, and the Council's reading is that softer quarter-on-quarter prices discouraged selling. Its outlook for the rest of the year expects recycling to rise only modestly, held back by expectations of further price gains, limited near-market stocks, and the absence of widespread financial distress — the three things that usually bring old jewellery out of drawers.
Why this matters for UK gold owners
It is worth being clear about what this is not. A dip in global recycling volumes is not a signal to sell or to hold, and anyone presenting it as one is selling something. What it does show is that people generally sell gold when they need to or when a price looks unusually good, not on a schedule.
The decision is a personal one, and the only figures that matter to it are the ones attached to your own items: what standard they are, what they weigh, and whether anything in the box is worth more intact than melted. How much is my gold worth works through the arithmetic.
Sources
- World Gold Council, Gold Demand Trends Q2 2026, published 30 July 2026.
- World Gold Council, Gold Demand Trends full year 2025, for the annual supply split.
- Volumes are in tonnes and are subject to revision.
This content is provided for general information only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
