Central bank gold demand to surge as 45% plan purchases: World Gold Council

The World Gold Council's annual survey found that 89% of reserve managers anticipate continued growth in global central bank gold reserves over the coming 12 months. Some 45% of respondents said their institutions plan to increase gold holdings within the next year — marking the highest purchasing intent recorded in the survey's history — while only 1% expect to reduce reserves. Some 93% of respondents said they currently hold gold reserves, up from 81% last year.

Reserve rebalancing

Approximately 83% of participants expect gold's share of total reserves to rise over the next five years, up from 76% last year, while 74% projected the US dollar's portion of global reserves to fall below current levels within the same timeframe. Respondents cited gold's strong performance during crises as a primary reason for holding the metal, with 90% highlighting this feature, while 84% pointed to its role as a long-term store of value and 82% emphasized portfolio diversification benefits.

Storage diversification

Central banks are reportedly shifting toward greater diversification in where they store gold reserves, with 9% of participants increasing domestic storage capacity over the past 12 months and 10% diversifying overseas locations. The Bank of England remains the most preferred overseas storage center with a 57% share, followed by domestic storage at 49%.

Long-term outlook

Shaokai Fan, head of Asia-Pacific excluding China and global head of central banks at the World Gold Council, said the survey's findings reflected both cyclical and structural developments as reserve managers navigate geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty. "Gold is not expected to fully replace the US dollar, but reserve managers aim to spread their assets across a broader range, and gold continues to benefit from these efforts due to its high liquidity and its inability to default," Fan stated. Central banks collectively bought an average of over 1,000 metric tons of gold per year during the past four years, substantially exceeding the average of the previous decade.