World Gold Council: Demand for gold declined in the second quarter of 2023

The World Gold Council said that global demand for the precious metal, excluding stock exchange trading, fell 2% on an annual basis to 920.7 tons in the second quarter of 2023, with slowing central bank purchases and continued weak consumption of the technology sector.

However, he added in his quarterly report on demand trends that demand remained strong between April and June from jewelry makers, which account for about half of demand for the metal, and investors who see it as a safe asset in times of global instability, which supported higher prices.

Demand jumped to its highest level in 11 years in 2022, thanks to central banks recording their largest purchases ever. The council said central banks bought 386.9 tonnes of gold in the first half of 2023, their largest purchases during the January-June period of any year since 2000.

The board added that purchases of bullion and gold coins rose, and Turkey was a major driver of growth, while investor exit from exchange-traded funds slowed.

With the calculation of off-exchange transactions that take place directly between sellers and buyers, global demand for gold grew 7% to 1255.2 tons in the second quarter.