MOSCOW, January 31 At the end of last year, Russia for the first time entered the top five largest suppliers of gold to Hong Kong, which was helped by an almost six-fold increase in sales, as follows from calculations based on data from the Hong Kong Statistical Service.
According to the department, Hong Kong increased gold imports by 1.6 times in 2023, to $59.9 billion. Switzerland became the main exporter of this precious metal, improving its position by two places: the country increased exports by 2.3 times — to $11 billion.
The UAE remained in second place, from where supplies increased 1.7 times — to $9.9 billion. Australia increased its exports by 39% to $6 billion, which helped it rise from fifth to third place. Japan remained fourth, increasing exports by a quarter to $5.63 billion.
Russia has become the fifth largest supplier of gold to Hong Kong, while a year ago the country ranked eighth. Hong Kong increased purchases of Russian precious metals by 5.8 times — to $5.58 billion. Russia's share of the market has almost quadrupled — to 9.3% from 2.5%.
Canada fell out of the top five, as a year ago it supplied $7.5 billion worth of gold to Hong Kong, which accounted for almost 20% of all supplies. It now ranks seventh with exports worth $4.3 billion. The top 10 also included the United States ($4.4 billion), China ($3.1 billion), Britain ($2.1 billion) and South Africa ($2.05 billion).