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Central Banks’ Gold Buying Driven by Three Overlooked Forces
Central banks are organizations that manage countries’ money and reserves.
Many of them have been buying more gold since 2022.
They are doing this because countries are worried about wars, tensions and access to assets stored overseas.
Some governments are also moving their gold closer to home.
In 2024, central banks bought a record amount of gold.
Gold now makes up a larger share of official reserves than U.S. Treasuries or euros.
However, this does not necessarily mean countries are abandoning the U.S. dollar.
The dollar’s share of foreign-exchange reserves actually increased in early 2026.
The overall strategy appears to be diversification and protection against uncertainty.
Central banks have increased gold purchases since 2022 amid geopolitical tensions and concerns over frozen foreign-exchange assets.
Annual purchases reached a record 1,092 tonnes in 2024, then fell to 863.3 tonnes in 2025 and 345 tonnes in the first half of 2026.
Countries are repatriating gold or moving it away from the United States, including the Netherlands, France and India.
Gold represented 27% of official foreign-exchange reserves at the end of 2025, exceeding U.S. Treasuries at 22% and the euro at 15%.
The trend reflects diversification and a desire for local control, while the U.S. dollar still accounted for 57.13% of reserves in the first quarter of 2026.
- Who
- Global central banks, including the Netherlands’ central bank, France and India’s Reserve Bank of India.
- What
- Central banks are buying more gold, repatriating reserves and increasing gold’s share of official foreign-exchange holdings.
- Where
- Gold is being moved from overseas vaults, including locations in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, to domestic or major trading hubs such as London.
- When
- The trend accelerated from 2022; the article cites purchases through the first half of 2026 and reserve data from the first quarter of 2026.
- Why
- The article attributes the activity to geopolitical uncertainty, concerns about frozen foreign-exchange assets, diversification and a desire for greater local control.
Diversification and Security
Possible De-Dollarization
Meaning of gold’s rise
Diversification and Security
The article says gold’s larger share of reserves mainly reflects rising gold prices and a broader diversification strategy, while the U.S. dollar’s reserve share increased.
Possible De-Dollarization
Gold overtaking U.S. Treasuries could be interpreted as evidence that central banks are reducing their reliance on dollar-linked assets.
Reason for repatriation
Diversification and Security
Moving gold closer to home is presented as a response to geopolitical tensions and a desire for local control or safer storage.
Possible De-Dollarization
The repatriation of gold from the United States and other foreign locations may signal reduced confidence in holding strategic reserves abroad.
Key facts
- Record annual purchase
- Central banks bought 1,092 tonnes of gold in 2024, according to the World Gold Council.
- 2025 purchases
- Central banks bought 863.3 tonnes of gold in 2025.
- First-half 2026 purchases
- Central banks added 345 tonnes of gold during the first half of 2026.
- Gold reserve share
- Gold accounted for 27% of official foreign-exchange reserves at the end of 2025.
- U.S. Treasury share
- U.S. Treasuries accounted for 22% of official foreign-exchange reserves at the end of 2025.
- U.S. dollar share
- The U.S. dollar represented 57.13% of foreign-exchange reserves in the first quarter of 2026, up from 56.42% in the fourth quarter of 2025.
- Central-bank expectations
- In the World Gold Council’s 2026 survey, 89% of respondents expected global central-bank gold reserves to rise over the following year.
Sources
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