A record share of reserve managers plan to increase their gold holdings in the coming year, the World Gold Council (WGC) reported on Tuesday after completing its annual central bank survey.
The survey, which collected responses from 74 central banks between February 5 and May 19, found that 45% of respondents intend to boost their institutions' gold reserves over the next 12 months - a rise of 2 percentage points from the previous year. A majority of respondents, 54%, said their gold holdings will remain unchanged, while 1% expected their holdings to fall.
Most of the survey replies arrived after the onset of the Middle East conflict in late February, an event that the WGC said catalyzed a rally in oil prices and pushed gold prices down. Despite that recent decline in gold's price, the WGC quoted Shaokai Fan, head of the central banks sector at the organisation, saying central banks remain keen on gold and that the price drop had not altered their stance.
The survey also noted a separate development over a recent weekend: the U.S. and Iran reached terms to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, an agreement that, according to the WGC, led to a 3% rise in gold prices on the following Monday.
Forecasting demand, consultancy Metals Focus expects central bank gold demand to slow by 15% year-on-year in 2026 in tonnage terms, but still to remain above levels seen before 2022. The WGC's survey results underline why demand from official sector buyers has been a consistent source of support for the market.
Ownership of gold among the surveyed institutions has risen sharply. The WGC said 93% of respondents already hold gold, up from 81% a year earlier. When asked what drives gold ownership, a record 90% cited gold's performance in times of crisis. Other commonly selected reasons included using gold as a long-term store of value and for portfolio diversification. The role of gold as a hedge against geopolitical risk was particularly prominent among respondents from emerging market and developing economies, with 85% citing that rationale.
The survey also reported shifts in storage and vaulting practices. In the past 12 months, 9% of respondents said they had increased domestic storage of gold, up from 5% a year earlier. Ten percent said they had diversified their overseas storage locations, compared with 2% previously. Looking ahead, 7% plan to increase domestic storage within 12 months and 9% plan to diversify overseas vaulting locations over the same horizon.
The WGC said it did not request central banks to identify the provenance of gold involved in repatriation moves. Nevertheless, its research indicates that the Bank of England remains the most popular vaulting location, followed by domestic storage and the Bank for International Settlements.
Methodology note - The WGC's figures are drawn from its annual central bank survey conducted from February 5 to May 19, with 74 central bank respondents.