Global gold demand hits record high in 2025

Demand for gold hit a record high last year as concerns about instability and trade tensions sparked a surge in investment, even as a string of record prices kept jewelry buyers away, Reuters reported, according to Agerpres.

Global gold demand rose 1% in 2025 to 5,002 tonnes, the highest on record, the World Gold Council (WGC) said recently.

The price of gold rose above $5,600 an ounce for the first time last week and is up 22% so far this year, after a 64% rise in 2025, driven by safe-haven demand driven by geopolitical tensions and, more recently, weakening confidence in the US dollar.

"The biggest question this year will be whether investment demand will be strong enough to keep the gold market high,” said John Reade, an analyst at the World Gold Council.

The WGC expects another year of strong inflows from gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and robust demand for bullion and coins. ETFs saw inflows of 801 tonnes of gold in 2025, while bullion and coin demand rose 16% to 1,374 tonnes, the highest level in 12 years.

Total investment demand for gold rose 84% to a record 2,175.3 tonnes in 2025, up from 1,185.4 tonnes in 2024.

• Jewelry demand, affected by high prices

However, the WGC expects record prices to weigh on jewellery demand this year and slow central bank gold purchases to 850 tonnes from 863 tonnes in 2025, although their purchases remain high compared to pre-2022 levels.

Demand for gold jewellery fell 18% in 2025, with Chinese purchases falling 24% to the lowest level since 2009. A similar decline was seen in India, where demand for gold jewellery fell to its lowest level in three decades.

After a rise in the gold price and sustained purchases by central banks between 2022 and 2025, the share of gold in global foreign exchange holdings is now approaching levels seen in the early 1990s, "a period with more concentrated ownership and likely fewer incentives to hold gold than today,” the WGC estimates.