Global Central Banks' Gold Buying Intent Hits New High Since 2018, Gold Price Pullback Seen as Allocation Opportunity

BlockBeats News, June 16th, according to a recent survey released by the World Gold Council, central banks around the world continue to show increasing willingness to allocate to gold. Against the backdrop of a correction in the high gold price environment, "buying on dips" is becoming an important strategy for some countries' reserve management.

The survey, conducted jointly by the institution and YouGov with 74 central banks, showed that 45% of the surveyed central banks plan to increase their gold reserves in the next 12 months, the highest level since the survey began in 2018. At the same time, only 1 central bank indicated a decrease in gold holdings. This structural result indicates that despite the recent pullback from its highs, the long-term demand for gold by global official institutions remains strong.

The report pointed out that gold has doubled in price over the past three years due to continuous net purchases by central banks, but the market environment has changed since 2026. The Middle East situation has driven energy price fluctuations, while reinforcing market expectations of "sustained high-interest rates," suppressing the short-term attractiveness of the non-yield asset gold. Coupled with speculative fund withdrawals, the gold price has fallen to its lowest point since November last year.

Structurally, emerging markets and developing economies remain the main gold buyers in the future. The survey shows that about 53% of such central banks plan to continue increasing their gold holdings, while only 18% of central banks in advanced economies intend to do so, reflecting a clear differentiation in reserve diversification and risk hedging among different economies.

Shaokai Fan stated that the price correction is reactivating the purchasing efforts of some central banks, "the price drop is providing some central banks with entry opportunities." He pointed out that in 2025, many central banks chose to wait and see because the gold price was high, and the current correction is changing this decision-making pace.

In terms of gold acquisition methods, about half of the central banks planning to increase their gold holdings prefer to purchase gold directly from their domestic mining system using their own currency to reduce foreign exchange reserve consumption. Another 38% choose to rebalance their allocation by selling other reserve assets. This indicates that gold is gradually evolving from an "FX reserve substitute" to a "systemic asset reallocation tool."