Gold Council: Global Demand for Gold Reaches Record Level

SadaNews - The World Gold Council announced yesterday, Thursday, that global demand for gold rose by 3% year-on-year to reach 1,313 tons, the highest quarterly figure ever recorded, in the third quarter of the year, with a sharp increase in investment demand.

Gold prices in the spot market have surged by 50% since the beginning of this year, reaching an all-time high of $4,381 per ounce on October 20, due to safe-haven demand amidst geopolitical tensions, uncertainties regarding U.S. tariffs, and more recently, a wave of buying driven by the fear of missing opportunities.

Louise Street, Senior Markets Analyst at the World Gold Council, stated, "The outlook for gold remains optimistic, as the continued weakness of the U.S. dollar, expectations of lower interest rates, and the risk of stagflation could boost investment demand."

Demand for gold bars and coins rose by 17% in the third quarter, led by India and China. The World Gold Council reported that inflows into exchange-traded gold funds surged by 134%.

The World Gold Council estimated that central banks, another key source of demand for gold, increased their purchases by 10% to 219.9 tons in the third quarter, based on reported data and estimates of unreported purchases.

The council clarified that central banks purchased 634 tons of gold from January to September, which is "less than the exceptional levels recorded in the past three years, but still significantly higher than pre-2022 levels."

The World Gold Council expects full-year purchases for 2025 to range between 750 and 900 tons.

Monetary Easing

The World Gold Council added that expectations for further monetary easing and concerns about the health of the U.S. economy drove investors towards gold during the quarter.

The Federal Reserve cut rates by a quarter percentage point, as widely expected, although Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that a further cut in December is "not a foregone conclusion."

At the same time, the surge in gold prices drove jewelry consumption in the third quarter to its lowest level since 2020 in terms of volume, prompting the World Gold Council to lower its full-year forecasts. However, consumer spending on jewelry increased by 13% year-on-year to $41 billion due to rising prices.