According to Kitco - Krishan Goroalul - senior analyst of EMEA area at the World Gold Council (WGC), updated the amount of gold central banks bought last month.
Gopaul said China continued to increase 5 tons of gold reserves in January 2005.
Analysts are paying special attention to China. This is the third consecutive month that the People's Bank of China has increased its official gold reserves, after a six-month pause, ending the previous 18-month gold purchase.
"Buying in the last month, bringing China's total gold reserve to 2,285 tons," Gopaul said.
Despite a significant increase in holding gold, the amount of gold in China's foreign exchange reserves currently accounts for only about 5% of total foreign exchange reserves. Analysts say China still has a lot of room to raise this rate to 10%, more suitable for central banks in developed markets.
Not only China buys gold. Gopaul also quoted data from the Polish National Bank, showing that they bought 3 more tons of gold in January.
"This raises Poland's total gold reserve to 451 tons - 26% higher than January 2024 and an increase of 97% compared to January 2023," Gopaul said.
Poland was the country that bought the most gold last year when the central bank of the country increased its reserves by 90 tons.
In Europe, Goroul said the Czech Republic National Bank also bought 3 tons of gold in January.
“The Czech gold reserves have now reached 53 tons, up 63% compared to the end of January 2024,” he said. “Gold currently accounts for more than 3% of the country’s total foreign exchange reserves.”
Finally, Uzbekistan was the country that bought the most gold in January when their central bank bought 8 tons of gold.
“ Uzbekistan’s gold reserves are currently at 391 tonnes, the highest since February 2023 (393 tons),” Goralul said.
Last year, central bank gold purchases dominated the gold market, with a total of 1,045 tons of gold purchased, according to the World Gold Council's annual and fourth quarter 2024 reports.
“It is worth noting that 2024 is the third consecutive year the golden bank's demand exceeds 1,000 tons - much higher than the annual average of 473 tons in the period of 2010-2021, contributing to promoting developments. Gold price ” - WGC said.
The WGC expects central banks to continue supporting the gold market: “Central banks have been net buyers for the past 15 years, but their demand for gold has not shown any signs of decreasing. While it is difficult to predict the exact purchase level of each central bank, as this often depends on policy, we can consider the macroeconomic context, general moves and factors to gain a perspective on the upcoming trend,” said analysts.
In an interview with Kitco News, Joseph Cavatoni - a market strategist at WGC, said that in the context of geopolitical instability, it is not surprising that central banks are diversifying reserves. , reduced dependence on the dollar.
“The goal of holding gold is very clear and easy to understand. When considering central bank demand, it can be seen that their gold ownership mechanism remains very strong. The growing weight of public debt along with the strong geopolitical fluctuations shows that central banks will continue to buy gold,” he said.
Cavatoni also said that gold price increased sharply will not prevent central banks from buying gold during 2025.
