5 Key Takeaways From the 2025 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey
Once dismissed by economist John Maynard Keynes as a “barbarous relic,” gold is increasingly proving its vital importance to global central banks amid mounting economic uncertainties.
This trend is supported by the recently published 2025 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey results, compiled from responses of global central bankers regarding their reserve management considerations and strategies.
What is the Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey?
The Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey, published annually by the World Gold Council (WGC) since 2018, is a highly regarded benchmark for understanding the strategic thinking behind official gold reserve management. It captures detailed insights from central bankers responsible for reserve asset decisions, offering a rare and authoritative view into the motives, concerns, and future plans of the world’s monetary authorities.
The 2025 edition of the survey—its eighth iteration—gathered responses from 73 central banks across both advanced and emerging market economies, making it the most comprehensive to date.
The WGC partners with YouGov, a respected global polling firm, to independently conduct the survey using anonymised and standardised methodologies. This ensures objectivity in the responses, which span topics from gold buying intentions and reserve management to views on global currencies and systemic risks.
#1 – Central Banks Extend Over 1,000-Ton Annual Gold Buying Spree
Between 2022 and 2024, central banks each added over 1,000 tonnes of gold annually—nearly double the previous decade’s average of 400-500 tonnes.
According to Metals Focus, central banks have been net buyers of gold for 15 consecutive years. They are on track for a fourth consecutive year of purchasing over 1,000 tonnes in 2025—a phenomenon driven by a deliberate move away from U.S. dollar exposure amid geopolitical tensions and fiscal uncertainty.
In the media framing of this trend, one Financial Times commentator described it as more than just a portfolio rebalancing: “a funeral march for the world order” and that “money itself had become a weapon”1—a symbolic reflection of eroding confidence in dollar-based institutions, especially after episodes like Russia’s frozen reserves.
#2 - Overwhelming Majority Expect Continued Growth in Global Gold Holdings
An impressive 95% of central banks surveyed (73 participants between 25 Feb–20 May 2025) projected that global official gold reserves will increase over the coming year, the highest level in the survey’s eight-year history.
Notably, 43% of respondents anticipate increasing their own holdings, up from 29% in 2024, with none expecting a decline. This surge underscores deep confidence in gold’s strategic value.
Gold accounted for 19% of total reported reserves (foreign exchange and gold) in Q3 2024. 72% of respondents expect gold’s portion of total reported reserves to rise to 20 to 25% in five years.
Remarkably, gold recently overtook the euro to become the second-largest reserve asset globally,2 illustrating its elevated status when uncertainty looms.
#3 – Central Banks Foresee Further Shift Away From the Dollar
Looking ahead five years, 76% of central banks expect gold to occupy a moderately or significantly higher share of global reserves (up from 69%).
Simultaneously, 73% believe the U.S. dollar share will decline. Nearly three‑quarters expect a drop in dollar holdings over the next five years—especially pronounced compared to last year’s 62%.
With euros and renminbi accounting for 15% and 2% of total reported reserves in Q3 2024, most survey participants also expected rises in the proportion of total reserves denominated in euros and renminbi, between 16 to 25% and 3 to 5% respectively, in five years.
This signals a clear pivot away from the dollar and towards gold and other currencies like the euro and renminbi.
#4 – Central Banks Recognise Gold’s Performance During Crises
Gold’s crisis resilience remains a central justification for accumulation: the survey found performance during crises, portfolio diversification, inflation hedging and gold’s role as a long-term store of value to be top strategic drivers.
These three drivers were also the top drivers cited in the 2024 survey, highlighting that central banks universally continue to view gold as a key component in managing financial risk.
Gold has repeatedly reached milestone price levels during times of major global crises, reinforcing its reputation as a reliable hedge when confidence in traditional financial systems is shaken.
During the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, as banks collapsed and markets spiralled, gold surged past USD 1,000 per ounce for the first time in history, driven by fears over systemic risk and currency debasement amid unprecedented monetary stimulus.
A decade later, during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, gold once again became a safe-haven magnet, soaring above USD 2,000 per ounce in August as central banks slashed interest rates to zero, printed trillions in stimulus, and border closures brought the global economy to a standstill.
Most recently, in 2025, gold climbed above USD 3,000 per ounce, propelled by a perfect storm of political instability in the U.S., central bank gold buying at record levels, rising de-dollarisation, and geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
#5 – Gold is Increasingly Seen as a Neutral Asset
The growing trend of central banks favouring gold can be seen as two sides of the same coin: on one side, it is often framed as a prudent strategy for portfolio diversification, aimed at enhancing reserve stability and reducing over-reliance on any single asset; yet on the other side, this shift also reflects a deeper, more consequential development—a loss of confidence in the future of international co-operation and the safety of the U.S. dollar.
This trend echoes findings from OMFIF’s recent Global Public Investor survey, where 70% of reserve managers expressed growing hesitation to invest in USD, notably due to political instability in the United States.
It was also reported in June that U.S. President Trump’s verbal attacks on the U.S. Federal Reserve are causing Germany and Italy to increasingly face ‘mounting pressure’ to repatriate their gold reserves, worth $245 billion, from the United States3.
Trump’s attacks are viewed as actions to undermine the Federal Reserve’s independence, which in turn impacts the control of foreign gold reserves held in its vaults.
While reserve currencies such as the U.S. dollar remain deeply entrenched in the global financial system, central banks recognise that holding dollars inherently means accepting U.S. control over those assets, subject to political decisions, sanctions, or financial system disruptions.
In contrast, gold is not issued by any government, is not someone else's liability, and is universally recognised as a safe haven. Unlike fiat currencies, gold is not exposed to counterparty risk or international sanctions.
Gold’s Rising Strategic Relevance
The 2025 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey shows a clear and accelerating trend: gold is becoming an increasingly vital component of global monetary strategy.
Once dismissed by Keynes as a "barbarous relic," gold is now being actively embraced by central banks not just as a hedge, but as a core reserve asset that offers liquidity, neutrality, and security in uncertain times.
From sustained record-breaking purchases to growing expectations of continued accumulation, the survey reveals a shifting global mindset—one that views gold as both a safeguard against systemic risks and a counterbalance to the vulnerabilities of fiat-dominated reserves.
As the geopolitical landscape becomes more fragmented and protectionism rises, degrading the rules-based multilateral trading system, gold’s apolitical and enduring nature is reinforcing its role as a stabilising anchor in the global financial system. In this evolving environment, the yellow metal is not just relevant—it is strategic.
References:
1 "Gold’s rally is funeral march for the world order," Financial Times: https://www.ft.com/content/0d4107b8-977c-4f8d-82c3-b6fe6dfb0173
2 "Gold is now the world’s second-largest reserve asset," CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/11/gold-overtakes-euro-as-second-biggest-global-reserve-asset.html
3 "Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245bn of gold home from US," Financial Times: https://www.ft.com/content/e39390cc-ea02-4197-843a-1e4c242422cc