The central bank's gold buying demand decreased by 82% compared to the 2025 average in January, but the demand from sovereign countries is expanding - according to the World Gold Council (WGC).
In its latest report, the WGC said that central banks only bought less than 20% of the average monthly demand of 2025 in January. However, many new countries have also entered the market, showing that the gold reserve accumulation platform is gradually expanding.
Ms. Marissa Salim - Head of Asia-Pacific Regional Research at WGC - said: "The momentum for central banks to buy gold has slowed down at the beginning of the year, compared to the 12-month average of 27 tons/month.
Total net buying volume in January only reached 5 tons. Gold prices fluctuated sharply and holidays may cause some central banks to temporarily stagnate. However, geopolitical tensions have not shown signs of cooling down and are likely to continue to promote the gold accumulation trend in 2026 and beyond.
According to Ms. Salim, gold purchases in January were mainly concentrated in Asia and Eastern Europe.
The Central Bank of Uzbekistan bought an additional 9 tons in the month, continuing its buying streak since October. The country's gold reserves increased to 399 tons. The proportion of gold in Uzbekistan's total foreign exchange reserves has increased sharply, from 57% in the same period in 2020 to 86% as of January 2026.
Bank Negara Malaysia is a new name in the list of gold buyers, when it bought an additional 3 tons in January - the first increase in reserves since 2018. After this transaction, Malaysia's gold reserves reached 42 tons, equivalent to 5% of total foreign exchange reserves as of the end of January.
Other central banks buying gold in January included the Czech Republic and Indonesia (2 tons each), China and Serbia (1 ton each). China has been buying gold for 15 consecutive months, bringing the proportion of gold in total reserves to nearly 10%.
In the opposite direction, the Central Bank of Russia was the largest net seller in the month, with 9 tons of gold sold. Followed by the Central Bank of Bulgaria (2 tons), this amount of gold was transferred to the European Central Bank (ECB) within the framework of Bulgaria joining the Eurozone from January 1, 2026, becoming the 21st member of the European Union. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan also each sold 1 ton of gold reserves.
Notably, South Korea also returned to the market as a buyer, for the first time in more than a decade. The Bank of Korea (BOK) announced that it will include physical gold ETF funds listed abroad in its foreign exchange reserve portfolio from the first quarter of 2026, marking the first gold-related investment since 2013.
BOK said that the advantage of ETFs is high liquidity and easier trading than physical gold. Currently, this bank holds 104 tons of physical gold, equivalent to about 4% of total reserves and ranks 41st in the world.
However, according to the 2025 Central Bank Gold Reserve Survey conducted by WGC, access to gold through ETFs is still quite rare in central banking circles. No unit among the surveyed parties chose this form to buy gold.
The World Gold Council believes that the increasing number of central banks participating in gold accumulation may become a prominent trend in 2026.
As we saw in January, the central banks of Malaysia and South Korea both resumed their interest in increasing the proportion of gold after a long absence. The next 10-15 days may be decisive for the geopolitical context this year, as US-Iran tensions continue to escalate without signs of a diplomatic solution.
The strong gold accumulation rate of central banks since 2022 is associated with how countries position themselves in a changing world order," Ms. Salim said.
