Global gold demand reached 1,231 tonnes in the first quarter of 2026, a 2% increase year-on-year, while the total value of demand surged to a record $193 billion, up 74% compared to Q1 2025, according to the World Gold Council's Gold Demand Trends Q1 2026 report. The divergence between volume growth and value growth reflects gold's sustained price appreciation, with prices peaking above $5,400 per troy ounce in January 2026 before a correction.

Central bank demand was the primary structural driver. Net purchases by central banks reached 244 tonnes in Q1 2026, exceeding both the prior quarter and the five-year quarterly average. The World Gold Council confirmed a resumption of net buying in April 2026, with Poland accounting for 14 tonnes of the 17 tonnes of net purchases reported for the month. Projected full-year 2026 central bank purchases stand at approximately 850 tonnes, compared to 863 tonnes in 2025.

Bar and coin investment demand rose 42% year-on-year to 474 tonnes in Q1 2026, driven by retail investors responding to price momentum and safe-haven appetite. Jewelry demand fell 23% year-on-year to 300 tonnes, continuing the structural contraction that occurs when gold prices sustain levels at which mass-market consumption in price-sensitive emerging markets reprices lower. Key markets including India, Turkey, and Southeast Asia showed the sharpest volume declines.

Gold ETF demand contributed positively to overall flows in Q1 2026 after two years of net outflows, reflecting a rotation from physically-backed instruments back into the ETF channel as institutional allocators increased gold exposure. The Q1 data confirms the demand structure that has underpinned gold's multi-year appreciation: investment demand from private and institutional buyers absorbing the contraction in jewelry and normalizing official-sector volumes, anchoring price at a new structural equilibrium.

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