Central-bank gold buying
Net purchases, tonnes.
About this data
Central banks bought more than 1,000 tonnes a year in 2022, 2023 and 2024 — roughly double the prior decade’s pace — as reserve managers diversified away from the dollar. That official-sector demand is a core structural driver of the price; 2025 cooled to 863 tonnes but stayed well above historical norms.
Net purchases, tonnes. Record buying in 2022–2024 drove the rally; 2025 cooled.
View data & sources →Data table
| year | series | tonnes | source_ref | value_basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | cb_gold | 1082 | wgc | WGC: central banks bought 1,082t in 2022 (highest since 1950) |
| 2023 | cb_gold | 1037 | wgc | WGC: 1,037t in 2023 (second-highest on record) |
| 2024 | cb_gold | 1045 | wgc | WGC: ~1,045t in 2024 |
| 2025 | cb_gold | 863 | wgc | WGC: 863t in 2025 (down 21%, first sub-1,000t year of the cycle) |
Methodology & sources
Last updated: Jul 17, 2026Methodology
Source-backed values are seeded for all four charts: the annual average gold price (2020 → 2026 spot), the annual return, central-bank net purchases, and the current spot price vs analyst forecasts. Every numeric point carries a sources[].ref and a value_basis. Annual averages are from the World Gold Council and Macrotrends; central-bank tonnage is from the WGC Gold Demand Trends; forecasts are J.P. Morgan Global Research. CAVEAT: the 2026 point is a spot price (Jun 22 2026), not a full-year average, and is labeled as such. Annual returns are computed from the cited annual averages (year-over-year change), not separately published figures. Re-verified 2026-06-22.
Comparisons are informative, not definitive. See each source for definitions and limits.