“Stellar year” sends gold demand above 5,000t for first time

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist, Financial Newswire

2 February 2026

Geopolitical tension and economic uncertainty has fuelled consumers and investors alike into entering a new ‘gold rush’ era, after a record-breaking fourth quarter capped off a “stellar year” that saw total gold demand exceed 5,000 tonnes for the first time.

According to the World Gold Council’s Full-Year 2025 Gold Demand Trends report, total gold demand – measured across jewellery fabrication, technology fabrication, investment, net purchases by central banks, over-the-counter (OTC) and other markets, changes to inventories on commodity exchanges, any unobserved changes in fabrication inventories and any statistical residual – reached 5,002 tonnes for the year, with global investment demand the main driver behind this record growth at 2,175 tonnes alone.

Investors craving safe haven and diversification benefits leaned heavily into gold ETFs and bullion throughout 2025, contributing approximately 801 tonnes and 1,374 tonnes (US$ 154 billion) respectively. Globally, China and India were the top markets to see the largest gains (28 per cent year-on-year and 17 per cent year-on-year, respectively) and accounted for more than 50 per cent of total global demand.

Central banks topping up their reserves also added approximately 863 tonnes in gold demand.

“2025 saw surging demand for gold and rocketing prices,” Louise Street, Senior Markets Analyst from the World Gold Council, said.

“Consumers and investors alike bought and held gold in an environment where economic and geopolitical risks have become the new normal. Investment demand stole the show as investors raced to access gold through all available routes, but other segments played a supporting role. Jewellery demand dipped by only 18% year-on-year against a 67% price increase – highlighting continued consumer willingness to buy at elevated prices, and central banks remained firmly committed to bolstering reserves.

“With economic and geopolitical instability showing little sign of retreat in 2026, momentum from last year’s strong gold demand is likely to persist. In the first month of this year, gold has already pushed past US $5,000/oz for the first time, underscoring gold’s role as a safe haven in uncertain times.”

Australian investors showcased a strong appetite for physical bars and coins and exchange traded funds (ETFs) in particular, with the former surging 35 per cent year-on-year to 15 tonnes and the latter reaching 52 tonnes and US$1 billion in assets under management (AUM).

Shaokai Fan, Head of Asia (ex-China) and Global Head of Central Banks at the World Gold Council, said these trends suggest Australians’ confidence in gold has moved beyond a “short-term response to market volatility” and further towards a long-term allocation.

“While [ETF] tonnage demand remained below the 15t peak recorded during pandemic-driven volatility of 2020, demand sentiment has clearly evolved,” he said.

“Where we believe demand has shifted most meaningfully since 2020 is in investor intent. Rather than responding to crisis-driven market stress, investors are increasingly turning to gold as a strategic portfolio diversifier, given traditional asset classes such as equities and bonds have become more correlated, particularly during periods of sticky inflation.

“This maturing appreciation of gold’s role in Australian portfolios is occurring despite remaining under-allocated relative to other major markets., in our view. We expect this gap to narrow as investor understanding deepens and portfolio construction becomes more resilient to volatility.”