Central bank gold moves

Central banks aren't the biggest single category of gold demand - jewelry demand still accounts for about 2,000 tonnes a year, more than double central bank gold purchases - but how they regard gold is an important indicator of trends.

These banks have more than 36,000 tonnes of gold, not for speculative reasons. They don't care about the price in other words - they buy gold for strategic reasons, as a store of value. So what these very conservative institutions are up to with gold gives clues to the rest of us.

Twenty-two central banks bought gold in 2025. Central banks bought 863 tonnes of gold in 2025, 21% less than in 2024, according to the World Gold Council (WGC). But that was still 82% more than the annual average for 2010-2021. In 2024 overall gold demand was more than 5,000 tonnes, setting a new record. Poland's central bank took first place as buyer, adding 102 tonnes and pushing its gold holdings to 550 tonnes, more than a fifth of its total reserves. Poland's gold buying has been a quiet but dramatic change - in 1996 its central bank had just 14 tonnes. The governor of the bank, Adam Glapiński, said in May 2025 that the gold is "a symbol of stability that enhances our credibility in the eyes of investors and foreign partners." The bank plans to push its gold reserves to 700 tonnes. It has no plans to sell it, according to its boss.

China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, is also buying much more than in recent years. It bought just 27 tonnes in the whole of 2025 but in just the first half of 2026 purchased 40 tonnes. How much gold China is acquiring is a closely guarded state secret. The country is the world's biggest gold miner, with around 10% of global production. Officially China holds some 2,346 tonnes. Unofficially, it's thought by many analysts that it's several times higher.

Some sellers

Central banks acted as though gold was a dead asset from roughly 1999 to 2009. Since 2010 they have mainly been net buyers, the sellers doing so from reasons of economic distress rather than an altered attitude.

It would be misleading to suggest that all central banks have been gold buyers. There are some sellers too. In the first six months of this year Russia's central bank sold 43.5 tonnes, taking its total gold holding to 2,282 tonnes. Twenty years ago Russia's central bank had about 400 tonnes. The war with Ukraine, which has now lasted longer than the First World War of 1914-18, has put a severe strain on the Russian economy. Sanctions on Russia have immobilized some $300 billion of the central bank's assets and its gold sales are intended to offset a growing budget deficit.

Another big seller is Turkey's central bank, having sold 81 tonnes in the year to date. Its economy is also struggling, with inflation independently assessed at more than an annual 50% in June, and more than 30% since the end of 2021.

But with total sales from all central banks last year less than 25 tonnes, and the WGC survey of central bank intentions that year finding that 95% of them expecting gold purchases to increase this year, it's clear that state officials regard gold positively.

Central banks are also aware that the world's leading fiat currency - the Dollar - has subtly shifted from being a means of exchange to an instrument of coercion. A decade ago Dollar-denominated assets formed about 64% of global foreign exchange reserves. Today that has dropped to 57%. The Dollar's dominance is slowly eroding.

Personal strategy

Central banks everywhere are populated by intelligent people whose job is to consider everything that might disturb their country's economy. That's what makes it worthwhile to consider how they treat gold. It's not a dead asset and that recent historic period in which it was treated like one was bizarre, an aberration. That thinking helped foster the Great Collapse of 2008.

Glint gives individuals the chance of being your own central bank. What makes sense strategically, for a country, makes sense for an individual. And it makes even greater sense, when you realize you can use Glint to spend gold as money on anything you like.

For UK clients: At Glint, we make every effort to demonstrate a balanced conversation between gold, silver, crypto and fiat currencies when it comes to purchasing power and, while we strongly believe that gold is the fairest and most reliable currency on the planet, we need to point out that it isn’t 100% risk free. While we have seen a steady increase over time, the value of gold can fall, which means that its purchasing power can also decline.

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