In the latest quarterly report (PDF) from the World Gold Council we found an interesting table containing the quarterly gold demand figures from the last five years. We have made a graphical representation of these data, so we can clearly see some significant developments in the physical gold market during this interesting period for the gold market.
From this graph we can see the increasing demand for gold coins and bars (red) since Q3 2007. We can also see a huge liquidation of gold holdings from ETF’s (green) from the beginning of this year, which marks the end of a long trend of expanding ETF gold holdings. Last but not least, we see a shift in central bank trading on the gold market. Back in 2007, central banks were still selling a substantial amount of gold, but since 2012 they are net buyers. In fact, last year they bought the largest amount of gold since 1964!
Demand for physical gold in the last five years, click for a full size graph
