Global gold investments rose 78 per cent in Q2 2025

Global demand for gold rose to 1,248.8 tonnes in the second quarter of this year according to the ‘Gold Demand Trends Q2 2025,’ published by the World Gold Council. The areas of demand, however, widely differ. While demand for gold for investment purposes rose sharply, gold jewellery saw a significant decline, both in production and demand. 

Gold is currently in high demand, especially as an investment

Despite the gold price continuing to hover around its all-time high, the buying mood has by no means dampened among investors – as evidenced by a whopping 78 per cent increase over the same period last year. The situation is quite different in the gold jewellery industry, where both production and demand have slumped by 14 per cent. With the price of gold on the London Gold Market rising by 40 per cent since Q2 2024, this is hardly surprising. Central banks’ appetite for gold also waned in the second quarter: the World Gold Council reports a 21 per cent decline in central bank purchases compared to the same quarter last year.

Rise in gold recycling four times as strong as mine production  

Despite an increase in total gold production from mining of 1 per cent to 908.6 tonnes and recycling of 4 per cent to 347.2 tonnes over the same period (Q2), the produced gold only slightly exceeded global gold demand. Overall, the recovery of gold from jewellery and electronic waste has increased four times more than mining production. Given the high gold price, commodity experts are surprised that the precious metal was not recycled at an even higher rate, especially in countries such as China and India. It is possible that people are holding on to their old gold jewellery as a store of value due to the highly volatile geopolitical and economic global situation.