World Gold Council: Gold Demand Hits All-Time Quarterly Record

The global gold market experienced a glimmering third quarter in 2025, with total gold demand surging 3% year-on-year to a fresh quarterly record of 1,313 tonnes.

This stellar performance of the yellow metal highlights its enduring appeal as both a strategic reserve asset and a powerful investment vehicle amid global economic uncertainty. The record demand was primarily fuelled by two major segments, which is the institutional investment and sovereign purchasing.

As per the report posted by the World Gold Council, "Huge ETF buying" was cited as a primary catalyst for the demand surge. Exchange-Traded Funds or ETFs and similar products, often seen as proxies for investor sentiment towards gold. These funds saw substantial inflows, indicating strong institutional and retail appetite for the safe-haven asset.

Another reason friving the hard asse's record run was the Central Bank purchases. Central banks globally continued their aggressive buying spree, with official sector demand rising an impressive 28% year-on-year.

Central banks are diversifying their reserves away from traditional assets, viewing gold as a critical hedge against inflation and geopolitical risk, contributing significantly to the overall record tonnage.

The new quarterly record of 1,313 tonnes solidifies gold's strong position in the global financial landscape and sets a robust foundation for the final quarter of the year.

Kotak Securities in a recent note, said that equities are for investment and while gold acts as insurance. The near-term gold price drivers, like fear of missing out or FOMO and currency debasement arguments, appears weak to the analyst.

The primary concern is that the true macro issue for India is the continued high volume of gold imports. This has a detrimental impact on the nation's current account and trade deficits.

The market fixation on pitting equities against gold misses the core point, according to Kotak. The point being that these assets play complementary, not competing, roles in a savings portfolio.