Gold Market Structure and Trends

To explore current trends and future opportunities we conducted our 2025 annual Chinese jewellery retailer research in partnership with China Gold News for the sixth consecutive year. Through the lens of the retailer we found that gold products continue to dominate Chinese jewellery retailer sales while Heritage and Hard Pure gold jewellery products remain key sources of retailers’ profit. Buying for self-indulgent wear remains key in retailer jewellery sales. Retailer optimism around gold product sales is intact and self-indulgent buying may continue to drive business in the future.

Global physically backed gold ETFs recorded their largest monthly inflow in September (US$17bn), resulting in the strongest quarter on record of US$26bn. North American (US$10.6bn) and European funds (US$4.4bn) drove the bulk of inflows. Followed by Asia (US$2.1bn) and other regions (US$175mn). Supported by a rallying gold price, global gold ETFs’ total AUM rose 23% q/q to US$472bn, reaching another record, and holdings rose 6% q/q to 3,838t.

In this investor research report, we explore Japanese investors’ attitudes to gold, such as gold’s shares in their portfolios, barriers to their gold allocation decisions and the potential for gold investment in the future. By assessing the current macro backdrop in Japan and studying local investors’ top needs, we believe gold has the potential to become a more relevant strategic asset in Japanese investors’ portfolios.