(Kitco News) – China’s gold consumption fell 5.96% in the first three months of 2025, according to the latest data from the China Gold Association (CGA).
Gold consumption in China came in at 290.49 tonnes, the CGA said. The decline was especially pronounced in jewelry and investment demand, with Chinese consumption of gold jewelry falling 26.85% compared with the first quarter of 2024 to 134.53 tonnes, while consumption of gold bars and coins dropped 29.81% to 138.02 tonnes.
Consumption of gold for industrial and other uses dropped 3.84% from the previous year to 17.94 tonnes in Q1, the CGA said.
On the production side, gold output saw steady growth in the first quarter of 2025. China produced 87.24 tonnes of gold in the first quarter, up 1.49% from the previous year.
The CGA data aligns with the latest numbers from Ray Jia, Research Head, China at the World Gold Council (WGC). Jia’s report showed China’s gold market demonstrating significant strength in March and through Q1, with all-time highs in domestic prices and ETF inflows and ongoing central bank buying. But the WGC also saw gold’s price rally sapping imports and jewelry demand.
Jia noted that Chinese wholesale gold demand came in at 336 tonnes in Q1, which was 29% below the ten-year average and a 36% decline compared to Q1 2024. He said the previous quarter’s weakness can be mainly attributed to a high base, as January 2024 saw the strongest wholesale demand on record, and the surging gold price pressured jewelry demand.
The high prices also had a large impact on imports, which remained weak at the start of 2025.
“Gold imports into China virtually came to a halt in January, amounting to just 17t, the lowest monthly value since February 2021 – at which time imports were hampered by COVID restrictions,” Jia said. “February imports picked up, rising to 76t. Nonetheless, they remained well below the 2024 monthly average of 102t.”
Looking ahead, Jia said the WGC expects gold investment demand will stay strong in the near term as the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China hurts growth and local assets.
“The global gold price strength, boosted by a re-structuring of the world trade order and world market volatility, will provide further support,” he said.
Chinese insurers have also recently entered the gold market, with four companies becoming SGE members in March. “Their participation should sustain long-term investment demand for gold in China, especially amid ongoing economic and trade uncertainties,” Jia said, but also cautioned that even with the upcoming May Labor Day holiday, “record high gold prices and economic worries are clouding the jewellery demand outlook.”
