Blog · Gold
Central bank gold buying in 2026: a record 244 tonnes in Q1
The official sector set a spending record while traders sold the Fed headline. The flows, not the price, are the story.
Buried in a World Gold Council report: central banks bought an estimated 244 tonnes of gold in the first quarter of 2026 — a record US$37 billion in value. It is the highest quarterly figure on record, and it landed even as the gold price slipped under US$4,100 on a firmer dollar and easing Middle East tensions.
This is not a one-quarter anomaly. Central banks have averaged roughly 1,000 tonnes a year for four years running — about double the pace of the prior decade. In the WGC’s latest survey, 89% of reserve managers expect official gold holdings to keep rising over the next 12 months.
Why it matters: while traders sell gold on a Fed headline, the most price-insensitive buyers on earth keep accumulating — often into the dips. That structural, official-sector demand is the floor being built under the market, and it is the single most important force in gold right now.
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