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Informist, Tuesday, Jun. 16, 2026

 

MUMBAI – Central banks, one of the largest buyers of gold in recent years, continue their favourable sentiment towards the yellow metal, according to World Gold Council. Gold's performance during crises, its ability to preserve value, and its diversification benefits continue to be leading reasons for central banks to hold gold reserves, it said in Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey 2026, released Tuesday.

 

"The 2026 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey shows that central banks are as enthusiastic as ever towards gold, with a record high 45% reporting that they plan to increase their gold reserves in the coming 12 months," said the survey report.3

 

Global central banks have accumulated an average of 1,000 tonnes of gold over the past four years, up significantly from the 500 tonnes average over the preceding decade. This marked acceleration in the pace of accumulation has occurred against a backdrop of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, which has clouded the outlook for reserve managers. However, they expect good performance by gold, going forward, per the report.

 

The Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey 2026 was conducted between Feb. 5 and May 19, and covered 76 responses. The sample is highly representative of the overall central bank community, both geographically and in terms of gold owned, the report claimed. "With the majority of responses coming in after the start of the Middle East conflict, this year's survey contains insights on how central bankers view gold in the light of ongoing geopolitical turmoil," the report said.  

 

The survey showed that 89% of the respondents believed that global central banks' gold reserves will increase over the next 12 months. "This year, a record 45% of respondents expect their own gold reserves will also increase over the same period. The majority of the remaining respondents indicated they expect no change while 1% expect their institution's gold reserves to decrease."

 

Gold's performance during times of crisis, portfolio diversification and inflation hedging are some of the key factors for central banks to hold gold. In addition, gold as a geopolitical risk hedge and gold as part of a reserve diversification policy also feature as key reasons for increasing allocations to gold, the report said.

 

Majority of respondents--74%--see moderate or significantly lower US dollar holdings within global reserves over the next five years, the report said. Respondents also believe that the share of other currencies, such as the euro and renminbi, will remain unchanged over the same period, while gold holdings will increase.

 

This year's survey asked respondents how they would fund their new gold purchases. Half of respondents indicated through a domestic purchase programme in local currency, while 38% indicated through selling existing reserve assets.

 

The Bank of England remained the most popular vaulting location among respondents at 57%, though central banks continue to diversify their storage across multiple locations. Domestic storage came in second at 49%, followed by the Bank for International Settlements at 16% (a slight uptick from last year). The Swiss National Bank saw a notable decline in preference, dropping to 6% from 12% in 2025.

 

A notable increase in changes to vaulting locations was observed in this year's survey, with 9% saying they have increased domestic storage and 10% saying they have diversified overseas storage locations in the past 12 months, compared with 5% and 2%, respectively, in last year's survey. The trend is also observed in future plans for vaulting, with 7% saying they plan to increase domestic storage and 9% saying they plan to diversify overseas storage locations in the coming 12 months, the report said. End

 

Reported by Abhijit Doshi

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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