Central banks worldwide increased their gold purchases by 42 per cent in the third quarter of 2026 compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Total demand for the year to date therefore stands at 675 tonnes of gold, 6 per cent more than in the first three quarters of 2025. At 321 tonnes in the third quarter alone, the expansion of gold reserves was also well above the five-year quarterly average of 227 tonnes of gold. However, central banks were not the only ones driving the high demand for gold in recent months. Institutional investors also contributed to record figures.
Gold ETFs and ETCs: record inflows
Gold ETFs and ETCs recorded worldwide inflows of 211 tonnes of gold in the third quarter, worth US$31 billion. This is a record for a single quarter. Contributing factors were the renewed strengthening of inflows compared with the second quarter and the gold price, which remained significantly higher despite corrections and sideways trends. At the end of the third quarter, it was still 23 per cent higher in US dollars than in the same period of 2025. The gold holdings managed in physically backed gold ETFs and ETCs have grown to 4,256 tonnes this year, also a record high.
AI boom fuels gold demand, jewellery industry suffers from high prices
Compared with the same quarter a year earlier, gold demand across the technology sector rose by 3 per cent, largely thanks to the current AI boom. Demand in electronics grew by 5 per cent, while it declined by 6 per cent in the remaining technology segments owing to the increased substitution of gold by cheaper metals. Demand for gold jewellery fell by 17 per cent in the same period, the largest drop within a single quarter since 2000. How the fourth quarter of 2026 turns out remains to be seen. The outcome of the US midterm elections and their possible consequences are likely to support the gold price, at least in the short term.