Research library

Q2 gold demand of 953.4t was 10% lower than 2016, while H1 demand slowed 14% to 2,003.8t. 

The gold market is broad and complex, so producing statistics on demand and supply is challenging. But having such statistics is crucial to understanding the fundamentals of the market. 

2016 full-year gold demand gained 2% to reach a 3-year high of 4,308.7t. Annual inflows into ETFs reached 531.9t, the second highest on record. Declines in jewellery and central bank purchases offset this growth.

In 2015 India was the world’s fast growing economy; in recent years millions have been lifted out of poverty and India’s middle class has swelled. This is important because our econometric analysis indicates income growth drives gold demand. 

The global gold bar and coin market has boomed in the past 10 years. Several factors have underpinned this growth, perhaps the most important being that successive financial crises have tested investors’ faith in governments, banks, monetary policies and fiat currencies around the world.

Continued growth in Q2 2016 (+15%) brought total H1 gold demand to 2,335t – the second highest first half on record.

Gold demand reached 1,290 tonnes Q1 2016, a 21% increase year-on-year, making it the second largest quarter on record.

Third quarter gold demand rose by 8% year-on-year, reaching a two-year high of 1,120.9 tonnes. Q3 2015 was a period of two distinct halves: ETF outflows contributed to a price dip in July, which boosted consumer demand around the world.