Ghana overtakes US to become world’s sixth-largest gold producer

• Ghana has risen to sixth place among the world’s largest gold-producing countries after producing 185 tonnes in 2025.

• The country overtook the United States following higher Ghanaian output and a decline in US production.

• Ghana’s 2025 gold production reached a record 5.94 million ounces, with small-scale mining accounting for more than half of total output.

Ghana has moved into the top six gold-producing countries in the world, after a record increase in gold production in 2025 helped the country overtake the United States, according to the Ghana Chamber of Mines.

The Chamber says Ghana produced 5.94 million ounces of gold in 2025, equivalent to about 185 tonnes, representing a 23.41% increase from the 4.82 million ounces produced in 2024.

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Christopher Nyarko, Director of Analysis, Research and Finance at the Chamber of Mines, disclosed the ranking during an interview on The Point of View on Channel One TV on Monday, August 17.

Nyarko said Ghana had traditionally ranked seventh but moved up after its production increased while US output fell in 2025.

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The biggest change in Ghana's gold industry came from the small-scale mining sector. Their share of Ghana's total gold production therefore rose to 52.4%, overtaking large-scale mining for the first time in more than a century of commercial mining in the country.

Large-scale production, meanwhile, fell by about 3%, from 2.92 million ounces in 2024 to 2.83 million ounces in 2025.

The Chamber has linked the growth partly to developments in the small-scale sector and reforms around the formalisation of gold trading. The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), established in 2025, has been given a central role in bringing more artisanal and small-scale gold into the formal market.

The Chamber's ranking places Ghana behind China, Russia, Australia, Canada and Peru, with the United States following in seventh.

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According to reports, the United States produced an estimated 160 tonnes in 2025, with Nevada accounting for about 64% of US production. He noted that the ranking might differ according to sources.

The Chamber of Mines has projected 6.1 million to 6.7 million ounces of national gold production for 2026, however, the final figure will depend on the performance of both large- and small-scale mining.