Annual average gold price was the highest in 2012, due to buying from major central banks to diversify their asset base, high jewelry demand, quantitative easing, and rising inflation. Overall, the locus of the world gold mine production seems to be shifting from the big three (i.e. South Africa, United States, and Australia) to the emerging market nations. The primary drivers for a bullish view include higher retail and institutional investment, increased gold buying by major central banks over the world due to a possibility of a global economic slowdown, and prospects of a truce in US-China trade tensions.