Gold demand hit an all-time high last year as jitters over instability and trade sparked a surge in investment, even as a series of record price peaks kept jewellery buyers from the tills.
Global gold demand rose by 1% in 2025 to 5,002 metric tons, the highest number on record, the World Gold Council said on Thursday.
Prices of the metal jumped above $5,300 per ounce for the first time on Wednesday and are up 22% so far this year after a 64% jump in 2025 on safe-haven demand driven by geopolitical tensions and more recently weakening confidence in the US dollar.
“The biggest question this year will be whether investment demand is going to be strong enough to maintain the strength of the gold market,” said John Reade, senior market strategist at the World Gold Council.
Gold investment at record
The WGC expects another year of strong inflows into gold-backed exchange-traded funds and robust demand for bars and coins. ETFs saw inflows of 801 tons of gold in 2025, while demand for bars and coins jumped 16% to a 12-year high.
Overall gold investment demand soared 84% to a record high of 2,175 tons in 2025.
However, the WGC expects record-high prices to hit jewellery demand this year and will slow down purchases by central banks to 850 tons from 863 tons in 2025, even though their buying remains elevated when compared to the pre-2022 level.
Gold jewellery demand fell 18% in 2025, with buying in China down 24% at its lowest since 2009.
After a gold price rally and active purchases by central banks in 2022-2025, the share of gold in foreign currency holdings around the globe is now approaching early-1990s levels, “a period with more concentrated ownership and arguably fewer incentives for gold ownership than today,” the WGC said.
Its estimate is based on officially reported gold purchases by central banks and an assessment of unreported buying by consultancy Metals Focus.
“Many banks manage gold outside their formal reserve frameworks; some likely target volumes rather than values. This makes it ineffective to identify a single ‘satiation point’ for aggregate demand,” the WGC added.
(By Polina Devitt; Editing by Jan Harvey)
