World Gold Council: Demand for gold dips during Q2‎

World Gold Council said today, Tuesday, that global demand for the precious metal, excluding off-exchange transactions, 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, the council added in his quarterly report on demand trends that demand remained strong between April and June from jewelry makers, which represent about half of the demand for the metal, and investors who see it as a safe asset in times of global instability, which supported the rise in prices.

According to Reuters, demand jumped to its highest level in 11 years in 2022, thanks to central banks recording their largest purchases ever. The council said that central banks bought 386.9 tons of gold in the first half of 2023, which is the largest volume of purchases during the period from January to June in 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 the non-exchange transactions that take place directly between sellers and buyers, the global demand for gold grew 7% to 1255.2 tons in the second quarter.