Since the end of May 2013, holdings of gold-backed ETFs and exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) are up from 2,296.3 tonnes worldwide to 3,478.3 tonnes at last count, an increase of 51.48 per cent, according to the World Gold Council. However, the current volume does not represent the absolute record value, which was 3,919 tonnes in October 2020 when an end to the COVID pandemic was not yet foreseeable. Still, the current global gold holdings in ETFs/ETCs are at their highest level since October 2022.
North American gold funds dominate net inflows in 2023
After US-based and Canadian gold funds were responsible for a large part of the outflows from ETFs last year, this trend reversed in spring 2023: for three months in a row, North American gold funds have already recorded the strongest inflows worldwide in tonnes. Overall, gold holdings managed in ETFs increased by 46.6 tonnes to 1,773.7 year-to-date (June 2023). Over the same period, however, gold holdings in ETCs were down by 42.9 tonnes. Asian gold funds have remained at 118.2 tonnes since the beginning of the year with small outflows of 0.5 tonnes, while gold ETFs in the remaining regions (Africa, Arab League, Latin and South America, etc.) saw net inflows of 2.7 tonnes.
In early June, inflows outweighed outflows for the first time this year
The sum of inflows and outflows has turned positive for the first time this year, with demand up 8.9 per cent against sales of 8.4 per cent. In addition to US-based funds, the main contributors were French-based ETCs, up 3.4 tonnes, and Japanese gold funds, up 1.8 tonnes. With a 4.8 tonnes rise, i.e. growth of no less than 413 per cent, Turkish gold funds saw the highest inflows outside North America.