The World Gold Council (WGC) has published its final data for the third quarter of the current 2020. It follows from it that the total demand for gold over the specified period decreased by 19% compared to 2019 to 892 tons. At the same time, investment demand, on the contrary, increased by 21% to 494.6 tons. Net sales of physical precious metal (coins and ingots ) grew by 49% to 222.1 tons. The demand for shares of "gold" ETF-funds increased by 5% to 272.5 tons. The gold reserves of funds to provide their shares at the end of September 2020 amounted to a record 3880 tons.
The WGC survey found some countries to stand out in the market for gold bullion and coin sales. For example, the demand for investment gold in Germany amounted to 32.3 tons - an increase of 81% compared to the same period in 2019. Thus, Germany has become one of the leaders in this indicator. Below is a list of countries that saw an increase in demand for investment gold in the third quarter:
China: 57.8 tonnes (+ 35%)
Turkey: 48.5 tons (over 600%)
India: 33.8 tonnes (+ 51%)
Germany: 32.3 tonnes (+ 81%)
USA: 19.2 tons (over 300%)
Austria: 2.4 tonnes (+ 128%)
United Kingdom: 3.1 tons (+ 28%)
These figures show the quantitative growth of demand for gold in these countries. But due to the growth in the price of precious metals in many countries by 20% or more, it turns out that in value terms the growth turned out to be even greater.
The WGC report also found that net purchases of gold by central banks in the third quarter were 141.9 tonnes, a 12.1% decrease from a year ago. Industrial demand for the precious yellow metal fell by 6% to 82 tons. The jewelry sector suffered the most. There was a decrease in demand by 29% to 333 tons.For example, the decline in the jewelry industry in India was 48% to 52.8 tons.