Retrospective analysis and perspectivies of gold market functioning

The article describes the role of gold in the historical perspective and nowadays. Gold has lost the role of money and become a commodity. The physicochemical properties of gold cause a consistently high level of investment attractiveness. The dynamics of the development of the gold market over the last decades has been shown to show an upward trend. The share of developing countries in shaping global demand for gold is constantly increasing. The reason for giving gold a priority as a means of accumulating and storing value is the increasing riskiness of the global economic landscape given the increasing interdependence of countries as a result of globalization processes. The jewelry industry is showing increasing demand for jewelry goods. Increasing demand for gold as a tool for hedging and preserving value, as well as the development of the jewelry industry, determine the upward trends in gold production, and therefore the development of the gold market. The leading consumer of cash precious metal is the jewelry industry, the demand to which is more determined by the price of the precious metal: the lower the price, the greater the demand. However, a given pattern works during periods of global economic recovery, and during periods of recession, demand in the jewelry industry decreases at relatively low prices. Gold has undergone a long evolution, repeatedly changing its functions and role in the world economy, however, at all stages of the development of civilization, this role remained high. Gold is an essential element of the world financial system, as this metal is not susceptible to corrosion, has many applications, and its reserves are small. In all times of the world economic system, gold has been an integral part of economic relations. In modern conditions, gold has ceased to be the basis of monetary circulation, but it is an integral part of the country's foreign exchange reserves. In general, the development of the gold industry is cyclical. The overall level of gold produced in the world does not change significantly. However, given the significant increase in gold production in China that has been observed in recent years, there is a high probability of a significant increase in annual global gold production taking place.