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Record interest from investors and sustained appetite from central banks helped keep demand for gold among the highest its been since the onset of the pandemic at the start of 2025.
According to the World Gold Council, the spectre of Donald Trump’s tariffs and continuing geopolitical uncertainty all served to maintain demand for the traditional safe haven asset at the “eye-watering” levels it achieved last year, despite its elevated price.
Total demand for gold rose by one per cent year-on-year across the first three months of 2025, the industry body said, which represents a 40 per cent increase in value terms to a record $35bn (£26bn).
Investor demand for the metal jumped 170 per cent year on year, from 204.4 tonnes in the first quarter of 2024, to 551.9 tonnes between January and March this year.
This was despite the spot price for gold jumping 20 per cent over the reporting period, which did not include the sharp jump in gold demand triggered by Donald Trump’s sweeping Liberation Day tariffs on 2 April. It broke $3,500 per troy ounce for the first time ever during the council’s reporting period.
“The main reason [for the jump in demand was] a sharp acceleration in ETF inflows that we saw during the quarter,” Louise Street, an analyst at the World Gold Council, told City AM. “Investors added 226 tons to their global holdings, which if you compare with last year when we saw outflows.”
Gold-backed ETFs have become a popular way for investors to increase their exposure to bullion without the responsibility of storing and keeping the metal.
Demand from central banks, which have driven much of the recent appetite for gold, tapered off slightly over the quarter. But combined, the institutions still added 244 tonnes to official reserves. The National Bank of Poland remained at the forefront of gold aquisitions, while the People’s bank of China added the second-most gold to its reserves.
