Central banks resumed net buying of gold in April, with a purchase volume of 17 tons" - Ms. Marissa Salim, Head of Senior Research for Asia-Pacific at the World Gold Council (WGC) wrote - "This is a recovery after significant net selling recorded in March.
Poland continues to be the largest buyer in the month, with 14 tons, while China is accelerating the buying rate. China's net buying volume of 8 tons is the highest level since December 2024, while extending the current gold buying streak to 18 consecutive months.
The Czech Republic also showed similar stability when buying 3 tons in April, marking the 38th consecutive month of purchases. Meanwhile, Russia continued its gold sales streak this month with 6 tons, raising sales from the beginning of the year to 22 tons" - Ms. Salim noted.
Ms. Salim said that central banks in Eastern Europe and Asia continue to dominate the buying side, with monthly gold purchases taking place stably. In the past 36 months, these two regions have purchased an average of 12 tons and 11 tons per month respectively. Activities of global central banks show an average net purchase of 29 tons in the same period.
According to Ms. Salim, the purchase of 14 tons by the State Bank of Poland has brought the total gold purchases from the beginning of the year to 45 tons. Poland's gold reserves currently reach 595 tons, accounting for about 30% of total reserves.
Meanwhile, with a purchase volume of 8 tons, China's official gold reserves currently reach about 2,322 tons, equivalent to 9% of total reserves. The Czech National Bank also continued to net buy at a modest but steady level, with 2 tons in April, bringing gold reserves to 79 tons, equivalent to 6% of total reserves.
On the selling side, in addition to Russia, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan sold 1 ton of gold in April. However, since the beginning of the year, this country has still been the net buyer with 24 tons, second only to Poland. Uzbekistan's gold reserves account for 88% of total reserves, equivalent to about 414 tons.
The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey - the biggest seller in March - reported that gold reserves were almost flat in April. Weekly data shows that short-term gold/USD swaps expired in April, leaving only longer-term gold/USD swaps, from 1-3 months" - Ms. Salim added.
Looking ahead, Ms. Salim said that the 9th annual World Gold Council survey on central bank gold reserves in 2026 will be released this month. The report will provide the latest perspectives on the strategic views of the central banking community on gold as a reserve asset.
In our 2025 survey, central banks gave positive expectations for gold, with 95% of survey participants believing that the gold reserves of global central banks will increase in the next 12 months. This figure is higher than the 81% in the 2024 survey" - she noted.
43% of survey participants believe that their own gold reserves will also increase in the same period in 2025, compared to 29% in the 2024 survey.
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