Gold Demand Trends: Q4 and Full Year 2025

Net central bank gold demand increased to 230t in Q4’25, up 6% from 218t in the previous quarter. This strong performance concluded a year marked by durable buying activity, even as gold prices reached record highs.

Reported gold buying was somewhat modest through much of 2025 as central banks navigated a rapid rally in prices, which reached multiple record highs during the year.

Elevated valuations of gold reserves appeared to prompt a more cautious approach. This highlights that central banks are not insensitive to price dynamics, even as their long-term strategic interest in gold remains firmly intact.

The Q4 buying helped lift full-year demand to a sizeable 863t. While this fell short of the exceptional +1,000t level seen in recent years, it nonetheless remained significantly above the 2010-2021 annual average (473t).² The strong buying activity observed in 2025 – particularly among emerging market banks – aligns closely with the sentiments captured in our 2025 Central Bank Gold Survey.³

Twenty-two institutions reported an increase in their gold reserves of around a tonne or more during the year; seven were responsible for the bulk of the gold buying. Beyond this, buying was again supported by a long tail of more modest purchases.⁴

• The National Bank of Poland was once again the largest buyer, both in Q4 (35t) and in 2025. Over the year the bank added a further 102t, increasing its gold reserves to 550t. Gold now accounts for 28% of total reserves, approaching its revised target allocation of 30%, which it increased from 20% in October. Despite this, in January, Governor Adam Glapiński indicated his intention to increase gold reserves even further, to 700t, for “national security reasons”. However, no time frame was given to achieve this objective.⁵
• The National Bank of Kazakhstan increased gold holdings by 17t in Q4 and by 57t over the year, its highest level of annual buying on record back to 1993, having been permitted to buy 67t in 2025 by the Industry Ministry. Although the central bank had suspended sales of gold bought from domestic production in February, Governor Timur Suleimenov has indicated the bank will continue to accumulate more gold. In June, the Governor also stated that “We want to stay a net gold buyer” until global tensions ease.⁶
• The Central Bank of Brazil re-entered the market in 2025, having last bought gold in 2021. It added 43t between September and November, increasing its gold holdings to 172t. Despite this sizeable increase, gold still accounts for only 7% of total reserves.
• The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), the only sovereign wealth fund to publicly disclose its gold holdings, acquired 38t during between Q1-Q3, highlighting efforts to strengthen its reserves. Data for Q4 is yet to be published at the time of writing.
• The Central Bank of Turkey remained a steady buyer throughout 2025, despite market volatility. The bank purchased 27t in 2025 based on data to end-October, lifting official (central bank plus Treasury) holdings to 644t.
• The People’s Bank of China added just 3t in Q4, the lowest quarterly reported increase in gold reserves since Q1’24 (2t). This lifted its full year net purchases to 27t. Its reported gold reserves now stand at 2,306t, accounting for almost 9% of total reserves.
• The Czech National Bank bought 20t in 2025, a similar level to the preceding three years. Total reserves now stand at 72t against a stated 2028 target of 100t.⁷

Reductions in gold reserves during the year were far more limited by comparison: the Monetary Authority of Singapore (15t), Central Bank of Russia (6t), the Bundesbank (1t) – for its coin-minting programme – and Central Bank of Jordan (1t) were the only sellers of note despite gold price rally.

Unreported buying remained a significant feature of the market in 2025: the gap between Metals Focus’ estimates and officially reported data continues to indicate substantial opaque activity (57% of the annual total). This implies that some official institutions are adding to their reserves without immediate disclosure – a consistent trend in recent years.

In addition, several major central banks have indicated plans to boost their gold reserves over the next few years, demonstrating their ongoing effort to diversify and manage risk.⁸ This focus on gold suggests that it remains a key strategic asset even when short-term purchasing shifts in response to changing market conditions.

Despite falling short of the exceptional 1,000t threshold reached in each of the previous three years, 2025 was still an impressive year for central bank gold buying, and underscores the metal’s enduring strategic appeal. Looking ahead, we expect this trend to continue into 2026, as persistent economic and geopolitical uncertainty is likely to sustain demand for gold as a reserve asset. For a deeper dive into the factors shaping 2026 demand, please refer to the Outlook section of this report.