Central Banks Are Buying Gold, but Really Only Two of Them

Central Banks Are Buying Gold, but Really Only Two of Them

Through September this year, Poland bought a net 123 tonnes of gold and China 103 tonnes, the only two countries past the hundred-tonne mark. Uzbekistan follows at around 57 tonnes and Kazakhstan at 40, and the emerging markets below them are mostly under 10.

At the other end of the same chart, Turkey sold a net 82 tonnes, Russia 62 and Azerbaijan about 22.

So the line about central banks piling into gold needs an adjustment. The buying is real, but it is concentrated: Poland and China account for most of it, and the several dozen other buyers together add up to less than those two.

The selling is not a bearish view on gold either. The World Gold Council notes alongside this chart that Turkey's sales were concentrated in the first quarter and it has been largely inactive since, and that Azerbaijan's 22 tonnes were sold by the state oil fund rather than the central bank. Some of what reads as central bank selling is another institution adjusting its position, folded into the same table.

Reading this chart as though central banks move as a bloc will mislead you. Only two lines on it represent sustained accumulation. Most of the rest is occasional traffic in both directions.

Reporting lags vary by country and the figures get revised after publication, so the direction is more reliable than the decimals.

Source: World Gold Council central bank gold statistics through September 2026 and its monthly reports (Image: @GlobalMktObserv)