Central banks are buying gold at a record pace so far in 2023

21 Apr 2023

Central banks accumulated gold at the fastest pace on record in the first two months of 2023, according to a report by the World Gold Council’s (WGC) Krishan Gopaul. In January and February, central banks collectively bought a net 125 tonnes of the metal, the highest amount for the year-to-date period since banks became net buyers in 2010.

The countries reporting the largest purchases in the first two months were Singapore (51.4 tonnes), Turkey (45.5 tonnes), China (39.8 tonnes), Russia (31.1 tonnes) and India (2.8 tonnes).

Meanwhile, very few countries’ central banks shrank their gold reserves. Net sellers were Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Croatia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), though year-to-date purchases far outweighed sales.