A chart of central bank gold purchases shows three consecutive years of buying above 1,000 metric tons from 2022 through 2024, a pace unmatched since systematic record-keeping began in the 1950s. The most widely cited interactive version lives on the World Gold Council’s GoldHub platform, with the IMF’s data portal serving as the official statistical backstop. Gold now accounts for roughly 26 percent of official global reserves, up from about 15 percent as recently as 2023, making it the second-largest reserve asset worldwide after the U.S. dollar.1World Gold Council. Gold Demand and Supply by Country
Where to Find the Charts
GoldHub, run by the World Gold Council, is the standard source. Its central bank section carries interactive charts and downloadable data on holdings, net purchases and sales, and results from annual surveys of central bank attitudes toward gold. Updates publish quarterly alongside the organization’s Gold Demand Trends report, and the time series covers quarterly and annual volumes back to 2010.2World Gold Council. GoldHub – The Definitive Source for Gold Data and Insight
For a current-year snapshot, the Gold Demand Trends report breaks demand down by sector and geography, with central bank purchases shown as a distinct category.3World Gold Council. Gold Demand Trends Country-level tonnage sits in the separate supply and demand by country dataset.
The IMF’s portal at data.imf.org hosts the official reserve statistics most academic and institutional analysis relies on. These figures reflect what countries formally report under the IMF’s dissemination standards, and the data is free to access.
Individual central banks publish their own balance sheets, usually monthly. The People’s Bank of China, the Reserve Bank of India, the National Bank of Poland, and the Central Bank of Turkey all disclose gold holdings through regular statistical releases. Checking these directly is the most reliable way to confirm one country’s position, though releases sometimes lag by a month or two.
What the Numbers Show Year by Year
Central banks collectively added an estimated 1,136 metric tons in 2022. That volume slipped to about 1,051 tons in 2023 and climbed again to roughly 1,086 tons in 2024. For 2025, the consultancy Metals Focus projected purchases near 1,000 tons, about 8 percent below the 2024 peak but still historically large.
The 2026 outlook points to a meaningful pullback. J.P. Morgan analysts forecast around 755 tons for the year, with estimates from the World Gold Council and State Street Global Advisors landing in a similar 750 to 850-ton range. Price is doing much of that work. Spot gold hit an all-time high of roughly $5,608 per troy ounce in January 2026, making each ton of bullion sharply more expensive than two years earlier. Central banks buying on a budget purchase fewer tons when prices climb 50 percent year over year.
Even with tonnage easing, the dollar value of purchases remains large. And the 2022–2024 run dwarfs anything in the modern era. Before 2022, the previous annual record sat around 650 tons. Recent buying has run nearly double that baseline.
Which Countries Are Buying
Emerging-market central banks dominate the buying charts, led by a handful of repeat purchasers. China’s central bank has been the most consequential. As of April 2026, the People’s Bank of China held 2,322 metric tons of gold, about 9 percent of its total reserves. The bank had added gold for 18 consecutive months at that point, and its April purchase of 8 tons was the largest monthly addition since December 2024.4World Gold Council. China Gold Market Update: A Notable Rise in Gold Reserves
Poland has emerged as the most aggressive buyer in Europe. The National Bank of Poland held 509 tons as of April 2025, having added 61 tons in the first four months of that year on top of 90 tons purchased in 2024.5World Gold Council. Central Bank Gold Buying Slowed in April In early 2026, Poland again topped the monthly buying charts at 20 tons in February alone, followed by Uzbekistan at about 16 tons and Kazakhstan at roughly 7 tons.
The common thread: these buyers are reducing their dependence on dollar-denominated reserves. The U.S. dollar’s share of global foreign exchange reserves has fallen by roughly 20 percentage points since 2000, from 61.4 percent to around 42 percent. Gold has absorbed more of that shift than any single currency, overtaking the euro to become the second most important asset in global reserve portfolios.
Why Central Banks Are Buying
Diversification Away From the Dollar
De-dollarization is the single biggest driver. Central banks hold reserves to defend their currencies and fund imports during crises, and for decades the dollar played that role almost exclusively. Concentrated exposure to one country’s currency carries political risk. A nation holding most of its reserves in dollar-denominated assets is exposed to U.S. monetary policy and, more pointedly, to the possibility that those assets could be frozen or restricted.
Gold has no counterparty. A bar in a domestic vault doesn’t depend on another government’s willingness to honor a claim. It can’t be frozen by executive order, devalued by another country’s central bank, or rendered illiquid by sanctions.
Sanctions Risk After 2022
The freezing of Russian central bank assets in early 2022 sent a shockwave through the reserve management community. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. and its allies restricted the Central Bank of Russia’s access to roughly $300 billion in foreign reserves held abroad. The U.S. Treasury issued a determination under Executive Order 14068 that generally prohibited importing gold of Russian Federation origin into the United States unless licensed by OFAC. That prohibition applied to gold mined or refined after June 28, 2022.6U.S. Department of the Treasury. Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions
The lesson for other reserve managers was straightforward: reserves held in foreign jurisdictions or denominated in foreign currencies can be weaponized. Gold held at home is immune to that risk. Germany’s Bundesbank had anticipated this years earlier, completing a transfer of gold from New York back to Frankfurt by the end of 2016, with the goal of holding half of Germany’s total gold domestically from 2020 onward.7Deutsche Bundesbank. Bundesbank Completes Transfer of Gold from New York
Inflation Hedging and Portfolio Stability
Gold doesn’t pay interest or dividends, so its appeal depends largely on holding purchasing power over time. In inflationary environments, demand tends to rise as institutions look for assets that preserve value. The relationship isn’t always clean: gold prices climbed in recent years even as interest rates rose, which historically would have suppressed demand. The scale of central bank buying has overwhelmed the usual rate-sensitivity dynamics.
Gold also smooths volatility in a reserve portfolio. When bond markets sell off or currencies swing sharply, gold often moves the other way. For central banks managing trillions in national reserves, even a modest allocation can meaningfully reduce overall portfolio risk.
Why the Charts Likely Understate Actual Buying
Any chart you look at probably underreports the real total. A Federal Reserve research paper found that after 2021, World Gold Council estimates for aggregate gold reserve accumulation were more than twice as large as the figures shown in the IMF’s International Financial Statistics database.8Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. De-Dollarization? Diversification? Exploring Central Bank Reserve Trends The gap likely reflects purchases by sovereign wealth funds, state-owned entities, or other parts of government that operate outside the central bank and don’t report to the IMF.
China is the clearest example. The People’s Bank of China has a well-documented pattern of going silent on purchases for months or even years, then disclosing a large accumulated position all at once. Other countries don’t participate in the IMF’s reporting frameworks or report with significant delays. A chart based solely on IMF data will show a lower trajectory than what’s happening on the ground. World Gold Council charts try to bridge the gap by incorporating refinery data, trade statistics, and field research alongside official disclosures.
How the Reporting Framework Works
The framework behind reserve reporting is the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard. Subscribers commit to timely updates on official reserve assets, including gold stocks and foreign currency positions.9International Monetary Fund. Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board When a subscriber falls short, the IMF follows a graduated diplomatic process rather than imposing penalties, which helps explain why some countries take a relaxed approach to timely disclosure.10International Monetary Fund. The Special Data Dissemination Standard
The technical rules for what counts as a reserve asset and how to value gold come from the IMF’s Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, known as BPM6. It distinguishes monetary gold held by central banks from commercial gold stocks and standardizes how countries report market value.11International Monetary Fund. Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual Sixth Edition Most central banks update their BPM6-compliant positions monthly, though strategic or security considerations lead some to delay.