[SINGAPORE] A record high number of central banks are expecting a gold buying spree among the reserve managers in the next 12 months, based on data released by World Gold Council (WGC) on Tuesday (Jun 17).
Among the 73 central banks polled, some 95 per cent of them indicated that they expect global central banks to continue increasing their gold holdings in the next one-year period, a record high since the data was first tracked in 2019, and a 17 per cent increase from the survey results last year.
Nearly 43 per cent of the reserve managers indicated planning to add to their own gold reserves within the next year, up from 29 per cent last year. “Reserve managers’ favourable view of gold persists even in the face of record-high gold prices and 15 successive years of central bank gold buying,” noted WGC.
Gold has entered a higher price regime in 2025, trading at the high end of US$3,300 an ounce in the afternoon session of Asian trading on Tuesday. This represents a year-to-date rise of about 28 per cent.
Fan Shaokai, global head of central banks and head of Asia-Pacific (ex-China) at WGC, highlighted the strategic importance of gold in current global financial and geopolitical environments.
“Central banks are concerned about interest rates, inflation and instability – all reasons to turn to gold to mitigate risk,” said Fan.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Central banks have accumulated more than 1,000 tonnes of gold in each of the last three years, based on WGC’s data. It is a significant rise from an average of 400 to 500 tonnes in the preceding decade, the council highlighted.
The Bank of England remains the most popular vaulting location for gold reserves among the survey respondents, at 64 per cent of votes.
Meanwhile, the de-dollarisation trend continues to gain momentum amid central banks, as the US dollar’s dominance erodes amid geopolitical tensions, inflation concerns and a growing preference for gold as a reserve asset.
Some 73 per cent of the surveyed central banks expect the greenback’s share over their total reserves to be lower five years from now, higher than 62 per cent last year.
