The size of Switzerland’s gold trade is so large that authorities have excluded it from official trade statistics for years to avoid distorting the report and making the other data less useful. The value of Switzerland’s 2015 gold exports were roughly equal to the entire GDP of Sri Lanka and accounted for four-fifths of all the gold extracted in a year. Swissinfo.ch reports:
How did Switzerland manage to develop into a top-level platform for the gold trade? Primarily through tradition. The Zurich gold market has always been very important. Factors linked to security and efficiency in financial services and to logistics also play a role. Another important reason is that four of the world’s biggest gold refineries are based in Switzerland. These facilities refine almost two-thirds of the world’s gold.
For these reasons, Switzerland remains the world’s top gold importer and exporter.The graphics below from the Observatory of Economic Complexity, based on 2014 figures, show the major role that Switzerland plays in the gold trade.
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Gold Imports as a Percentage of World Totals
Gold Exports as a Percentage of World Totals
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