Gold ETCs & ETFs in Europe slightly grown in 2022

For several months now, large gold-backed funds have been witnessing outflows in the USA - a trend that has recently also been observed in Europe and especially Asia. In the first nine months of 2022, gold funds in North America shrank by 3.1 percent, in Asia even by 15.5 percent. In contrast, European gold funds and gold ETCs in the eurozone experienced inflows for large parts of the year. These inflows were so high that the overall balance for the year was positive in many European countries after all. Globally, gold holdings managed in ETFs and ETCs have declined by 1.1 per cent.

2.2 per cent growth in Europe since the beginning of the year

By the end of November, this years’s net inflows amounted to 2.2 percent. In some European countries, these were even significantly higher: while gold-backed ETCs in Germany proved slightly above the European average with a net increase of 3.2 per cent, net inflows in France clearly set themselves apart from the average with a plus of 12.4 per cent. The top performer in terms of growth was Ireland, where gold ETCs witnessed inflows of 177.5 per cent.

Will 2023 be a growth year for gold-backed funds & ETCs?

Several recent developments suggest that the negative trend in gold funds and gold-backed ETCs could end with 2022: not only have outflows moderated in many markets, but the world's largest exchange-traded gold fund, SPDR Gold Shares, saw a net inflow of $ 381 million in just five trading days in mid-December. Analysts also read the FED's recently more restrained interest rate policy as a positive signal for the recovery of the US gold price. Market experts at precious metals processor Heraeus, for example, expect the US gold price to rise by up to 8 percent in the coming year.