KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Central banks are buying at a scale that now materially affects global gold supply.
- China and Poland rank among the most consistent recent buyers.
- Analysts expect central-bank demand in 2026 to stay in the high hundreds of tonnes.
Central banks added hundreds of tonnes of gold in 2025 while prices hit record highs.
Their steady buying is reshaping the market and raising expectations for 2026 demand.
Official gold purchases reached 45 tonnes in November 2025, lifting total buying for the first 11 months of the year to about 297 tonnes.
At the same time, gold pushed to new all-time highs in January 2026, showing how official demand and market momentum are moving together.
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Why Central Banks Want More Gold
Many central banks prefer gold because it carries no counterparty risk and cannot be frozen or sanctioned.
As real interest rates trend lower, holding gold becomes more attractive compared with bonds that lose value when rates fall.
Officials are also trying to reduce dependence on the US dollar in their reserves, which makes physical gold a natural alternative.
The fact that buying continued even as prices climbed shows this is a long-term strategy, not a short-term trade.
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Who Is Buying The Most Gold
China extended its buying streak into a 14th straight month, steadily increasing its holdings rather than making one-off purchases.
Poland re-emerged as a top buyer in November, while several emerging-market nations also raised their allocations.
When these moves are combined, official buyers now account for a significant share of total annual gold demand, shifting how and where physical bullion flows around the world.
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What This Means For Gold Prices
Strong official buying helped push spot gold to fresh records in mid-January 2026, and ETF inflows picked up at the same time.
More central-bank demand tightens physical supply, which increases the chance of further price gains if investment demand stays firm.
Major market houses have already lifted their upside targets, reflecting this tighter balance between supply and demand.
Conclusion
Central-bank buying has become the quiet backbone of the gold market in 2026, and their monthly purchase data now carry as much weight as traditional macro signals.
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