Central bank confidence in gold rises: WGC
- 18 June 2025
Most respondents to the World Gold Council’s latest survey on central bank gold buying think they’ll continue to hoard the yellow metal over the next 12 months despite their “colossal” accumulation of gold in recent years.
The WGC’s 2025 Central Bank Gold Survey also has 43% of respondents saying their institution plans to increase their gold holdings in the coming year, another high marker for the eight-year-old survey, according to Shaokai Fan, the council’s global head of central banks.
Fan, who will be in Sydney, Australia, in October to speak at IMARC 2025 on central bank gold demand, says 95% of the record 73 respondents to this year’s survey indicated they believe the world’s central banks will lift gold reserves over the next 12 months.
“Amid a multitude of uncertainties central banks' confidence in gold continues to grow,” Fan says.
The WGC says central banks have accumulated more than 1000 tonnes of gold in each of the past three years – well up on the 400-500t average over the preceding decade.
“This marked acceleration in the pace of accumulation has occurred against a backdrop of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, which has clouded the outlook for reserve managers and investors alike,” the council says.
“Ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty continues to weigh on reserve managers, as this year’s findings highlight. Concerns over the inflation outlook and potential trade conflicts, particularly amongst EMDE [emerging market and developing economy] banks, show that diversification and risk mitigation continue to be key drivers of strategic reserve management decisions.
“And while there are divergences between advanced economy and EMDE central banks on some aspects, they share a common confidence in gold’s role as a reliable store of wealth and a key component of long-term reserve management strategies.”
Fan, who has been at WGC for nearly a decade, will unpack the full central bank and broader bullion buying picture at IMARC, among Australia’s major annual business events.
Gold’s performance during times of crisis, portfolio diversification and inflation hedging are some key themes driving plans to accumulate more gold over the coming year, the WGC says. As is the declining appeal of the world’s main reserve currency, the US dollar, also highlighted in the latest survey.
Fan will be joined by World Gold Council chief financial officer, Terry Heymann, at IMARC in Sydney from October 21-23.
