Executive Summary

Central banks have accumulated an average of 1,000t of gold over the past four years, up significantly from the 500t average over the preceding decade.1 This marked acceleration in the pace of accumulation has occurred against a backdrop of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, which has clouded the outlook for reserve managers.

Our 2026 Central Bank Gold Reserves (CBGR) survey was conducted between 5 February and 19 May. With the majority of responses coming in after the start of the Middle East conflict, this year’s survey contains insights on how central bankers view gold in the light of ongoing geopolitical turmoil.

This year we set a new benchmark, drawing in 76 responses2 – surpassing the number of survey respondents in the previous year and the highest participation on record since our survey commenced nine years ago. The sample is highly representative of the overall central bank community, both geographically and in terms of gold owned. This robust participation is a powerful signal of engagement with gold amongst the central banking community. These responses add depth to our insights into and understanding of gold’s role within reserve management.

We would like to give special thanks to all central banks who took the time to participate in this year’s survey.3 Your engagement and thoughtful contributions are incredibly valuable.

Key highlights

  • Similar to findings from previous surveys, central banks continue to hold favourable expectations on gold. Respondents overwhelmingly (89%) believe that global central bank gold reserves will increase over the next 12 months.
  • This year, a record 45% of respondents expect their own gold reserves will also increase over the same period. The majority of the remaining respondents indicated they expect no change while 1% expect their institution’s gold reserves to decrease.
  • Gold’s performance during times of crisis, portfolio diversification and inflation hedging are some of the key factors for central banks to hold gold. In addition, gold as a geopolitical risk hedge and gold as part of a reserve diversification policy also feature as key reasons for increasing allocations to gold.
  • The majority of respondents (74%) see moderate or significantly lower US dollar holdings within global reserves over the next five years. Respondents also believe that the share of other currencies, such as the euro and renminbi will remain unchanged over the same period, while gold holdings will increase.
  • This year’s survey asked respondents how they would fund their new gold purchases. Half of respondents indicated through a domestic purchase programme in local currency, while 38% indicated through selling existing reserve assets.
  • The Bank of England remains the most popular vaulting location among respondents at 57%, though central banks continue to diversify their storage across multiple locations. Domestic storage came in second at 49%, followed by the Bank for International Settlements at 16% (a slight uptick from last year). The Swiss National Bank saw a notable decline in preference, dropping to 6% from 12% in 2025.
  • A notable increase in changes to vaulting locations was observed in this year’s survey, with 9% saying they have increased domestic storage and 10% saying they have diversified overseas storage locations in the past 12 months, compared with 5% and 2% respectively in last year’s survey. The trend is also observed in future plans for vaulting, with 7% saying they plan to increase domestic storage and 9% saying they plan to diversify overseas storage locations in the coming 12 months. 

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Footnotes

1Historical gold demand and supply data, Goldhub

2Some survey questions were voluntary. As a result, base sizes vary across charts depending on the number of respondents for each question.

3The Central Bank Gold Reserves (CBGR) survey is conducted on the condition of anonymity. Unique, anonymised links were provided to the World Gold Council to send to their contacts within central banks around the world. Central banks that are under sanctions were not contacted.

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