Central Banks and Funds Bought Gold in the Third Quarter. Coin and Bar Buyers Stepped Back.
Central banks and other official institutions bought an estimated 321 tonnes of gold in the third quarter of 2026, up 42% on a year earlier, and gold ETFs added 211 tonnes to a record 4,256, according to the World Gold Council. Bar and coin demand fell 19% to 268 tonnes, a four-year low, and jewellery had its weakest third quarter since the series began in 2000. We set out who bought, who stepped back, and how much of the official buying was actually reported.
Published · 11 min read
Key Takeaways
- Central banks and other official institutions bought an estimated 321 tonnes of gold in the third quarter of 2026, up 42% on a year earlier and the most in a quarter since the end of 2024, taking the first nine months to 675 tonnes, 6% above 2025.
- Only 120 tonnes of that was reported by the banks themselves: the World Gold Council puts the unreported share at around 63%. China’s central bank reported 63 tonnes and Poland’s 40 tonnes; Russia’s 19-tonne reduction was the only large sale.
- Gold ETFs added 211 tonnes, taking holdings to a record 4,256 tonnes, with record quarterly inflows of US$31 billion, after outflows in the second quarter.
- Bar and coin demand fell 19% to 268 tonnes, a four-year low; US demand fell 40% to 8 tonnes, its weakest quarter since the end of 2019, and India accounted for 60% of the global fall. China grew 7% to 79 tonnes.
- Jewellery demand fell 17% to 313 tonnes, the weakest third quarter in a series that starts in 2000, and recycling fell 8% to 314 tonnes, while mines produced a third-quarter record of 1,071 tonnes. Total demand was 1,369 tonnes, 1% lower, at an average price of US$4,262, 23% higher.
Central banks bought far more gold in the third quarter of 2026 than a year earlier, and gold exchange-traded funds went back to buying after selling in the second quarter, while people buying bars and coins stepped back. That is the picture in the World Gold Council’s Gold Demand Trends for July to September, published on 3 November 2026 and compiled with the research firm Metals Focus. Quantities are in metric tonnes, comparisons are with the third quarter of 2025 unless stated, and prices are the LBMA Gold Price in US dollars per troy ounce, averaged over each quarter.
321 tonnes Gold bought by central banks and other official institutions in the third quarter of 2026, the World Gold Council’s estimate: up 42% on a year earlier. Over the same quarter gold ETFs added 211 tonnes, to a record 4,256, while bar and coin demand fell 19% to 268 tonnes, a four-year low, and jewellery had its weakest third quarter since the Council’s series began in 2000.
Total demand, including over-the-counter trading, was 1,369 tonnes, 1% less than a year earlier, while the average price was 23% higher at US$4,262. The total barely moved; what changed was who was buying. Official institutions added about 95 tonnes more than in the third quarter of 2025. Bar and coin buyers took about 61 tonnes less and jewellery makers about 80 tonnes less.
Who bought gold in the third quarter of 2026?
Jewellery makers, central banks and gold ETFs took the most: jewellery fabrication 340 tonnes, official institutions an estimated 321 tonnes and physically backed ETFs 211 tonnes. Official buyers and funds together took about 39% of the quarter’s 1,369 tonnes of demand; bars and coins took 268 tonnes and technology 85 tonnes. The remaining 143 tonnes is what the Council calls “OTC and other”: the less visible over-the-counter investment, plus any statistical residual from the data.
- Total demand, Q3 2026: 1,368.6 t
- Jewellery fabrication: 340.1 t
- Central banks and other institutions: 321.2 t
- Bars and coins: 267.8 t
- Gold ETFs and similar products: 211.2 t
- OTC and other: 143.5 t
- Technology: 84.8 t
Official buyers and funds took 532 of the 1,369 tonnes; bars and coins took 268.
Source: World Gold Council, Gold Demand Trends Q3 2026, Table 1 (Metals Focus estimates), published 3 November 2026.
The year-on-year comparison shows where the quarter changed. Central banks moved the most, followed by jewellery fabrication and bars and coins in the other direction. The totals differ by under 15 tonnes, so a stable headline figure hid two large opposing moves.
| Category (tonnes) | Q3 2025 | Q3 2026 | Change | Change, % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central banks and other institutions | 226.3 | 321.2 | +94.9 | +42% |
| Gold ETFs and similar products | 225.7 | 211.2 | −14.5 | −6% |
| Bars and coins | 328.6 | 267.8 | −60.8 | −19% |
| Jewellery fabrication | 420.0 | 340.1 | −79.9 | −19% |
| Technology | 82.0 | 84.8 | +2.8 | +3% |
| OTC and other | 100.6 | 143.5 | +42.9 | +43% |
| Total demand | 1,383.2 | 1,368.6 | −14.6 | −1% |
| LBMA Gold Price, quarterly average (US$/oz) | 3,456.5 | 4,262.2 | +805.7 | +23% |
How much did central banks buy, and was it a record?
Central banks bought an estimated 321 tonnes in the third quarter, their largest quarter since the end of 2024 but not a record. It was well above the five-year quarterly average of 227 tonnes, and it lifted purchases for the first nine months of 2026 to 675 tonnes, 6% more than in the same period of 2025. The longer record, including the 863 tonnes bought in 2025, is in the Market Context section of our Academy.
The year started slowly. The first quarter’s 58 tonnes reflects the Council’s later decision to reclassify a large block of first-quarter buying as over-the-counter investment, which our September article on where central banks hold their gold explained. The second and third quarters more than made up for it. The Council notes that the stronger buying came as the quarterly average price eased from its first-quarter high, and with lower volatility, but argues that prices were still historically high and that longer-term reasons, such as diversification and risk management, remained the main drivers.
- Q3 2025: 226.3 t
- Q4 2025: 209.9 t
- Q1 2026: 57.7 t
- Q2 2026: 296.3 t
- Q3 2026: 321.2 t
Five-year quarterly average: 227 t: The second and third quarters of 2026 were both above it. The first was far below.
The first nine months of 2026 add up to 675 tonnes, 6% above the same months of 2025.
Source: World Gold Council, Gold Demand Trends Q3 2026, Table 1 and central-banks section, published 3 November 2026. Net purchases by central banks and other official institutions.
How much of the central-bank buying was reported?
About three-eighths of it: the purchases central banks reported added up to a net 120 tonnes, against the Council’s estimate of 321 tonnes for the quarter. The Council puts the unreported share at around 63%, roughly 200 tonnes by our arithmetic, and says the gap has been a pattern since 2022. Metals Focus estimates the unreported buying from other information. The Council describes it as purchases or sales missing from official statistics because of reporting delays or non-disclosure, so the estimate does not name the buyers.
- Estimated central bank demand, Q3 2026: 321 t
- Reported by central banks: 120 t
- Not reported (estimate less reported): 201 t
Around 63% of the quarter’s official demand did not appear in any central bank’s published figures.
Source: World Gold Council, Gold Demand Trends Q3 2026, central-banks section, published 3 November 2026: estimated demand 321 t, reported net buying 120 t. The unreported tonnes are our subtraction.
Among the buyers that did report, two dominated. The People’s Bank of China added 63 tonnes in the quarter and the National Bank of Poland 40 tonnes, together around 86% of the reported total. China’s pace picked up: the quarter accounted for more than half of its buying so far this year, and our article on China’s September purchase covered its largest monthly addition since 2023. Poland slowed after a second quarter of 51 tonnes. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan each added 14 tonnes, and the Czech National Bank added 5 tonnes, about 6% of what it held at the start of the quarter.
September, the last month of the quarter, brought 61 tonnes of reported net buying, led by Poland’s 25 tonnes and China’s 23: the month’s country figures, and why a reserve relocation is not a purchase, are in our article of 5 November.
Sales were few. Qatar, the Kyrgyz Republic and the United Arab Emirates trimmed their holdings slightly, and Russia’s 19-tonne reduction was the only large sale reported. Several buyers, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ghana and Bolivia, are themselves significant gold producers, and the Council points to the role of buying from domestic markets.
Why did coin and bar buyers step back?
Bar and coin buyers held back because the price was moving sideways, US interest rates were expected to stay higher for longer, and share markets were rising, according to the Council. Global demand fell 19% to 268 tonnes, the lowest in four years. In US-dollar terms, spending held steady at US$37 billion, because each ounce cost more. The first nine months still added up to 1,053 tonnes, the strongest start to a year since 2013, after an unusually strong first quarter.
Set against the official buyers, the last three quarters show two groups moving in opposite directions while the price eased. As the quarterly average fell from US$4,873 to US$4,262, central bank buying rose and bar and coin buying fell. The figures show the two trends side by side; they do not show that the price caused either.
| Quarter | Average gold price (US$/oz) | Central banks (t) | Bars and coins (t) | Gold ETFs (t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 | 4,872.9 | 57.7 | 476.9 | 62.4 |
| Q2 2026 | 4,506.3 | 296.3 | 308.6 | −47.3 |
| Q3 2026 | 4,262.2 | 321.2 | 267.8 | 211.2 |
| First nine months | — | 675.2 | 1,053.3 | 226.3 |
Within the bar and coin total, the parts moved differently. Bars fell 19% to 203 tonnes and medals and imitation coins 35% to 30 tonnes, while official coins, the bullion coins struck by national mints, rose 12% to 35 tonnes.
The weakness was widespread. China and Egypt were the only major markets to grow, and India accounted for 60% of the global fall. In India, part of the drop reflects the festival calendar, with key festivals that lifted last year’s third quarter falling in the fourth this year, and the Council says some investors appear to be switching to digital gold, which our article on digital gold looked at.
| Market | Bar and coin demand, Q3 2026 | Change on Q3 2025 | What the Council reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | 79 t | +7% | Nine-month total of 393 t, the highest on record |
| India | 55 t | −40% | Festivals moved into Q4; some buyers appear to be switching to digital gold |
| Middle East | 22 t | −24% | Iran’s demand halved; some sold to cover living costs |
| Europe | 20 t | −31% | Disappointment at rangebound prices; Swiss demand halved |
| Turkey | 13 t | −12% | Profit-taking in the August rally |
| Indonesia | 13 t | −25% | Nine-month demand still 17% higher |
| United States | 8 t | −40% | Weakest quarter since Q4 2019 |
| Japan | −3 t | net selling | A second quarter of net selling |
In the United States, the Council describes demand for newly minted coins continuing the weakening trend of the last couple of years, with profit-taking adding to it. It also notes something buyers of coins rarely see. Low gold lease rates allowed dealers to keep coins they had bought back from customers, rather than send them to be melted, so new demand could be met largely from existing stock. A dealer’s premium over spot depends on supply and demand like this as well as on the metal, which our guide to premiums and spreads explains.
Why was jewellery demand so weak?
High prices were the main constraint on jewellery, according to the Council: consumers bought 313 tonnes, 17% less than a year earlier and the weakest third quarter in the Council’s series back to 2000, below even the pandemic-hit 331 tonnes of the third quarter of 2020. It was the 13th quarter in a row with a year-on-year fall. Buyers chose lighter pieces and lower carats, and China and India accounted for much of the decline. The amount spent still rose 2%, to US$43 billion. Over the first nine months, jewellery volumes of 889 tonnes were the lowest for that period in the series.
Did high prices bring more gold to market?
More gold came out of the ground, but less came back from old jewellery and bars. Mine production rose 3% to 1,071 tonnes, the highest third quarter in the Council’s series, which starts in 2000. Recycling fell 8% to 314 tonnes, its lowest quarter since the end of 2023, even though the average price was 23% higher than a year earlier. The Council puts the fall mostly down to the price being lower than in the second quarter, and describes recycling as “broadly unresponsive to high prices”.
Mining companies also kept closing old hedges, delivering into or restructuring forward sales, which took 17 tonnes out of supply. Total supply was 1,369 tonnes, 1% lower than a year earlier, and by construction equal to total demand. The Council names notable increases in Canada, Indonesia, Chile and Ghana, from new mines and from higher output at existing ones.
What does the World Gold Council expect for the rest of 2026?
The Council expects investment to remain the main source of growth in demand for 2026, but by less than it thought: it now expects investment to finish the year around 200 tonnes above 2025, down from 400 tonnes. It has raised its expectation for central bank buying, which it now expects to at least match 2025. It expects jewellery demand to fall, technology demand to hold broadly steady, and total supply to dip slightly even if mine production sets another annual record.
These are the Council’s expectations, not ours, and the Council is funded by gold-mining companies. For the fourth quarter it lists forces pulling in both directions: higher policy rates, bond yields and a stronger dollar on one side, and fiscal concerns, inflation, geopolitics and market stress on the other. It also notes that the funds’ third-quarter inflows came despite sharply higher bond yields and a stronger dollar.
What the quarter says, and what it does not
The quarter shows that the institutions buying gold and the households buying it can move in opposite directions for a long stretch. Central banks bought more as the price eased from its first-quarter high, and funds returned after selling in the second quarter, while people buying bars and coins, in most countries, bought less. For a private buyer, the official figures describe a powerful source of demand, but much of it is unreported and none of it is a forecast.
What the report cannot do is say what happens next to the price. Strong official buying in the third quarter did not stop gold falling to a one-year low at the end of October, which our review of that week covered. Demand estimates explain where the metal went in a past quarter; they are revised as information arrives, and one quarter’s pattern is not a signal on its own.
Questions and answers
- How much gold did central banks buy in the third quarter of 2026?
- The World Gold Council estimates that central banks and other official institutions bought a net 321 tonnes between July and September 2026, up 42% on a year earlier. Only 120 tonnes of that was reported by the banks themselves; the Council puts the unreported share at around 63%.
- Which central banks bought the most gold in the third quarter of 2026?
- Among those that reported, the People’s Bank of China added 63 tonnes and the National Bank of Poland 40 tonnes, together around 86% of reported purchases. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan each added 14 tonnes. Russia reduced its holdings by 19 tonnes, the only large reported sale.
- Did bar and coin demand fall in the third quarter of 2026?
- Yes. Global bar and coin demand fell 19% to 268 tonnes, a four-year low, according to the World Gold Council. US demand fell 40% to 8 tonnes, its weakest quarter since the end of 2019, and Indian demand fell 40% to 55 tonnes. China was one of the few markets to grow, up 7% to 79 tonnes.
- Are gold ETF holdings at a record?
- At the end of September 2026 they were. Physically backed gold ETFs added 211 tonnes in the third quarter, taking global holdings to a record 4,256 tonnes, with record quarterly inflows of US$31 billion. European funds added 92 tonnes and North American funds 81 tonnes.
Sources and Methodology
Every quantity and price for 2025 and 2026 quarters comes from the World Gold Council’s Gold Demand Trends Q3 2026, read on its web edition on 4 November 2026, except two earlier readings named as such: the 288.9 tonnes first reported for the second quarter (Gold Demand Trends Q2 2026) and the 863 tonnes for 2025 (Gold Demand Trends Full Year 2025). From the Q3 report we use Table 1 for the supply and demand balance and the quarterly averages of the LBMA Gold Price, and the central-banks, investment, jewellery, technology, supply and outlook sections for the rest. The Council’s demand and supply numbers are estimates prepared by Metals Focus, not a census, and earlier quarters are revised; we use the figures as published on 3 November 2026. Reported central bank purchases come from the IMF and the central banks, as compiled by the Council. Differences in tonnes, the official and fund share of demand, and the unreported tonnes are our own arithmetic on the Council’s figures. Kitco’s report of the release, published the same day, was used to check that we read the headline figures correctly; it repeats the Council’s numbers and is not an independent estimate.
Conflicts of interest, stated plainly. The World Gold Council is a membership organisation funded by gold-mining companies, and its purpose includes developing demand for gold; it states that it is affiliated with Metals Focus, which prepares the estimates. Its explanations of why demand moved, and its outlook, are the analysis of an interested party and are attributed as such. Kitco, whose report we used as a cross-check, also sells bullion. GoldSilverPortfolio has no affiliate or commission arrangement with the World Gold Council, Metals Focus or Kitco. It may earn a commission through two links elsewhere on this site: an affiliate link to SilverGoldBull, a bullion dealer, and a referral link to Wealthsimple, a brokerage. It also sells TaxStack, a paid record-keeping tool.
Primary sources
- World Gold Council — Gold Demand Trends: Q3 2026, 3 November 2026: highlights and Table 1, “Quarterly gold supply and demand by sector, tonnes”, Q3 2025 to Q3 2026, with the LBMA Gold Price quarterly averages
- World Gold Council — Gold Demand Trends Q3 2026: Central banks, 3 November 2026: 321 t estimated demand, 120 t reported, the five-year quarterly average of 227 t, and the reported purchases and sales by country
- World Gold Council — Gold Demand Trends Q3 2026: Investment, 3 November 2026: ETF flows by region and bar and coin demand by market
- World Gold Council — Gold Demand Trends Q3 2026: Jewellery, Technology, Supply and Outlook, 3 November 2026
- World Gold Council — “Central bank buying and ETF inflows support gold demand in Q3”, press release, 3 November 2026
- World Gold Council — Gold Demand Trends: Q2 2026, 30 July 2026: second-quarter central bank buying of 288.9 tonnes as first reported
- World Gold Council — Gold Demand Trends: Full Year 2025, Central banks, 29 January 2026: 863.3 tonnes of net central bank buying in 2025
- Kitco News — “Gold demand remains near record highs as central bank buying surges 42%”, 3 November 2026, used to check our reading of the headline figures