According to ChainCatcher, the World Gold Council today released its "Global Gold Demand Trends Q4 & Full Year 2025" report, showing that both global gold demand and prices have broken records. Total global gold demand (including over-the-counter transactions) is projected to surpass 5,000 tons for the first time in 2025. Coupled with the strong performance of gold prices throughout the year—53 record highs—global gold demand is expected to surge to an unprecedented $555 billion, a 45% year-on-year increase.
Overall gold demand is projected to grow in 2025: global gold ETF holdings will increase by 801 tons, marking the second-highest annual increase on record; purchases of gold bars and coins will accelerate, reaching a 12-year peak. Global central bank gold purchases are expected to reach 863 tons in 2025, hitting the upper limit of the projected range; the scale of purchases remains at a historically high level, and central banks are widely involved in gold purchases, but the pace of central bank gold purchases has slowed compared to the past three years.
Despite record-breaking gold prices, demand for gold jewelry declined in 2025, but the total global demand still grew by 18% year-on-year to a record $172 billion, indicating that global consumer interest in gold jewelry has not waned. Benefiting from the continued growth of artificial intelligence-related applications, demand for gold in the technology sector remained stable in 2025.
Looking ahead to 2026, with geopolitical tensions continuing to escalate, the World Gold Council anticipates continued strong inflows into gold ETFs, with robust demand for gold bars and coins, a trend supported by sustained large-scale gold purchases by global central banks. In an environment where gold prices remain high for an extended period, demand for gold jewelry is expected to remain under pressure.
