The World Gold Council (“WGC”) reported some good news for gold this morning in its quarterly “Gold Demand Trends” publication for Q3 2015. Gold demand climbed 8% to 1,121 t from Q3 2014 as demand for jewellery grew 6% year-on-year with lower prices during July and early August attracting consumers.
The quarter under review was the strongest third quarter for gold jewellery demand since 2008, with demand reaching 632 t. Leading the surge in jewellery demand was India, the world’s largest jewellery consumer, which reported gold demand up 13% to 268 t. Jewellery demand in China also rose 13%, to 240 t.
On the investment side, a jump in bar and coin demand drove overall growth in the investment sector of 27%. Gold bar and coins demand jumped 33%, to 296 t. Offsetting this was an outflow from ETFs of 66 t.
The WGC also reports that Central Banks again bought in bulk, adding 175 t to their gold reserves, almost matching the record additions of Q3 2014.
On the supply side, the WGC reports that total supply increased marginally to 1,100 t, despite a slight decline in mine production.
Gold demand climbs on jewellery, investment and Central Bank buying