Central banks buy 321.2t of gold in Q3; jewellery down 17% on year
Total demand, including OTC, slipped 1% on the year to 1,368.6 tonnes, the World Gold Council says. ETFs added 211.2 tonnes, bar and coin fell 19% on the year, and jewellery had its weakest third quarter in the series.
By Carat Capital
What changed
Central banks carried Q3. Central banks bought 321.2 tonnes of gold in the third quarter, up 42% on the year. Total demand slipped 1%, the World Gold Council says.
What it means
- If you restock for the holidays: Jewellery took 312.9 tonnes, the weakest Q3 in the series; its value rose 2% to $43bn.
- If you price off gold: The tape's $3,926.50, at 13:51 EST on 3 November, sits 7.9% under the Q3 LBMA average of $4,262.2.
- What this is not: A record year: nine-month demand is 3 tonnes short of 2025's.
Key figures
| Central bank buyingQ3, +42% on the year | 321.2t |
|---|---|
| Jewellery consumptionQ3, weakest third quarter in the series | 312.9t |
| ETF inflowsQ3, after a 47.3t outflow in Q2 | 211.2t |
| Total demand, incl. OTCQ3, −1% on the year | 1,368.6t |
Source: World Gold Council, Gold Demand Trends Q3 2026, released 3 November 2026; data to 30 September. Spot gold: Carat Capital tape, Kitco bid, 13:51 EST 3 November.
Investment split in two.
ETFs turned back. Gold ETFs and similar products added 211.2 tonnes after an outflow of 47.3 tonnes in Q2. The council ties the inflow to concerns over fiscal sustainability and inflation.
Bars and coins fell. Bar and coin demand fell 19% on the year to 267.8 tonnes. The council says investors waited for a clearer price trend.
| Sector | Q3 2025 | Q3 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jewellery consumption | 376.4 | 312.9 | −17% |
| Bar and coin | 328.6 | 267.8 | −19% |
| ETFs and similar | 225.7 | 211.2 | −6% |
| Central banks and other institutions | 226.3 | 321.2 | +42% |
| Technology | 82.0 | 84.8 | +3% |
| OTC and other | 100.6 | 143.5 | +43% |
| Total demand | 1,383.2 | 1,368.6 | −1% |
Q3 2025 as given in the council's 3 November table; its July table gave Q3 2025 total demand as 1,370.6 tonnes. Changes as printed by the council.
Q2 reads lower than in July.
The total was revised. The council's July table put Q2 total demand at 1,268.9 tonnes. Its 3 November table gives 1,254.5 tonnes for the same quarter.
Central banks revised up. Q2 central bank buying now reads 296.3 tonnes, against 288.9 in July. Q3's figure is the highest of the five quarters in the new table.
Mines set a record.
Output rose 3%. Mine production rose 3% to 1,070.9 tonnes, a third-quarter record, the council says. Recycling fell 8% to 314.5 tonnes, a three-year low.
What to watch
- 7 November 2026The People's Bank of China's October reserve figures. The test: whether official buying carries into the fourth quarter.
- Q4 2026 report, early 2027The council's full-year count. The test: whether central bank buying at least matches 2025, as the council expects.
The story so far
Go deeper
What would change this call
A fourth quarter in which official buying falls back toward Q1 2026's 57.7 tonnes would test the council's view that the year's central bank buying at least matches 2025.
How the council counts demand
Total demand adds jewellery, technology, investment and central bank buying, plus an 'OTC and other' line. In this table total demand equals total supply in every quarter.
Method
World Gold Council, 'Gold Demand Trends Q3 2026', page dated '3 November, 2026' (1 hit). Fetched by the Editor at 14:06 EST 3 November 2026 with tools/door.py, 200, 87,353 bytes (newsroom/sources/2026-11-03/desk/wgc.html), the same byte count as the Bureau's 13:52 capture. Table 1 read from the tag-stripped text: Q3'26 central banks 321.2, jewellery consumption 312.9, bar and coin 267.8, ETFs 211.2, technology 84.8, OTC and other 143.5, total demand 1,368.6, mine production 1,070.9, recycled 314.5, LBMA price 4,262.2; Q3'25 226.3, 376.4, 328.6, 225.7, 82.0, 100.6, 1,383.2; Q1'26 central banks 57.7; Q2'26 total 1,254.5, central banks 296.3, ETFs −47.3. Text: 'Central bank buying jumped to 321t', 'Jewellery demand fell 17% y/y to 313t, the weakest third quarter in our data series', 'Demand value edged up 2% y/y to US$43bn', 'demand of 3,881t virtually matches the 2025 record (3,884t)', 'investors waited for a clearer price trend to emerge', 'mounting concerns over fiscal sustainability and inflation', 'a third quarter record', 'a three-year low of 314t', 'Central bank buying likely to at least match 2025'. Grep of the raw bytes, single-quoted: '1,368.6' 2, '321.2' 1, '312.9' 1, '211.2' 1, '267.8' 1, '4,262.2' 1, '1,254.5' 2, '296.3' 1. Q2 as first published: the council's Q2 2026 page, fetched 14:06 EST with door.py, 200, 86,782 bytes (wgc-q2.html), Table 1 Q2'26 total demand 1,268.9, central banks 288.9, Q3'25 total 1,370.6. Arithmetic, ours: 321.2 / 226.3 = 1.419 -> +42%; 312.9 / 376.4 = 0.831 -> −17%; 1,368.6 / 1,383.2 = 0.989 -> −1%; 3,884 − 3,881 = 3; tape gold 3,926.5 (Kitco bid, 13:51 EST 3 November, newsroom/tape/2026-11-03.json, the tape's intraday read, not a close) / 4,262.2 = 0.921 -> 7.9% below. Not used: a Reuters headline of 3 November saying the council lowered its outlook for investment demand growth; its body was not read, and the council's own outlook says ETF, bar and coin demand will 'remain resilient'. Source verbs: the council says 'jumped', 'fell', 'edged up', 'adding'; this page says bought, fell, rose, added. ARCHIVE, by entity: 'Gold Demand Trends' 2 hits and 'World Gold Council' 21 hits in website/content/articles.json (tools/archive-hits.py, 3 November); the two Q2 pieces of 31 July and 2 August opened. Ours: Q2 2026 | new: Q3 2026: NEW, same series, new period.
Sources
- World Gold Council, Gold Demand Trends Q3 2026 3 November 2026
- World Gold Council, Gold Demand Trends Q2 2026 30 July 2026