Most gold is bought to be worn, stored or held in reserves. A smaller share is bought because of what the metal does. The industrial uses for gold are concentrated in electronics, with dentistry and a range of specialist applications behind it, and in each case the choice comes down to a few physical properties that are hard to match. This article looks at those uses, the properties behind them and how much gold they actually consume, based on data from the US Geological Survey (USGS) and research indexed by the US National Library of Medicine.
The properties that make gold hard to replace
Gold conducts electricity well and does not tarnish or corrode under normal conditions. A gold surface therefore keeps the same electrical behaviour over years of use, which is why it is placed at contact points where a small loss of conductivity would cause a failure. It is also very ductile and can be drawn into fine wire or applied as a thin layer.
The same chemical stability matters inside the body. A 2024 narrative review in the Journal of Functional Biomaterials, available through the National Library of Medicine's PubMed Central, describes gold nanoparticles as inert, stable and biocompatible. The review also notes that gold and its alloys are used in dental applications and reconstructive surgery because of their biocompatibility, durability and inertness.
Electronics: tiny amounts at critical contact points
Electronics is by far the largest industrial use. In its Minerals Yearbook chapter on gold for 2022, the USGS reports that global gold consumption for electronics was 252 tonnes in 2022, down 7% from 2021. In the United States, gold used in electronics was 63.1 tonnes in 2022, a slight increase on the previous year.
The quantities in any single device are small, which explains why such a large global total can sit alongside very modest use per product. In precision electronics, gold is typically used where reliability at the connection matters more than the cost of the metal. The USGS also notes that manufacturers economise on gold by cladding base metals with gold alloys in electrical and electronic products, so only the working surface carries the precious metal.
Dentistry: gold alloys and why they are still used
Dental use is much smaller than electronics. The USGS Minerals Yearbook puts global gold consumption in dental applications at 10.3 tonnes in 2022, down 9% from 2021. US dental fabrication used 3.50 tonnes in 2022, down 5%.
The decline has identifiable causes. The USGS links the 2022 fall to palladium, which is used in gold alloys for dental work, reaching an all-time high price, and to the ongoing shift towards ceramics. Gold alloys remain in use because of the properties described in the review above, but they now share the market with ceramics.
Medicine: from clinical materials to nanoparticle research
Beyond dentistry, the 2024 review on gold nanoparticles in dental biomaterials refers to gold and its alloys being used in reconstructive surgery. That is the established clinical side: solid gold or gold alloys, used where a stable and well-tolerated material is needed.
Gold nanoparticles are a different matter and sit mostly in research. The review covers studies published between January 2014 and April 2024 on adding gold nanoparticles to dental materials such as titanium, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and resin composites. Many of the results it summarises come from laboratory and animal studies. The authors also point out a lack of research on the long-term biocompatibility and mechanical stability of gold nanoparticles in dental materials, so these applications should not be treated as routine clinical practice.
How big is industrial demand?
Measured against total consumption, industrial demand is small. The USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 estimates the breakdown of global gold consumption in 2025, excluding exchange-traded funds and similar investments, as follows: jewellery 40%, physical bars 24%, central banks and other institutions 21%, official coins, medals and imitation coins 7%, electrical and electronics 7%, and other uses 1%.
The Minerals Yearbook gives a fuller picture for 2022. Total global industrial use was 309 tonnes, down 7% from 2021. Of that, electronics took 252 tonnes, other industrial applications 46.6 tonnes and dentistry 10.3 tonnes. The USGS does not report a separate figure for medical uses outside dentistry.
This small share is the reason industrial demand rarely features among the main drivers of gold prices. Jewellery, bar and coin purchases and central bank buying move far larger volumes than electronics and dentistry combined.
Recycling and the limits of substitution
Industrial gold does not disappear after use. The USGS estimates that in 2025 about 90 tonnes of new and old scrap was recycled in the United States, equivalent to about 60% of reported consumption, with recycled supply slightly higher than in 2024. The USGS figures do not separate scrap recovered from electronics from other sources.
Substitution is possible but limited by performance. The USGS states that palladium, platinum and silver may generally substitute for gold. In electronics, the more common route is to use less gold rather than none, through gold-clad base metals and product redesigns with lower gold content. In dentistry, as the 2022 data show, ceramics have taken part of the market. Where gold remains, it is because its stability and conductivity at a specific point are worth the cost.
This article describes how gold is used as a material in medicine and dentistry; it is not medical advice.