Central banks added a net 1,045 tonnes to global gold reserves in 2024, the third consecutive year that demand surpassed 1,000 tonnes and far above the 473-tonne annual average recorded between 2010 and 2021, the World Gold Council reportsCITE:E1. The National Bank of Poland was the year's largest single buyer, adding 90 tonnesCITE:E2. Turkey's central bank increased its official gold reserves by 75 tonnesCITE:E2. India's central bank purchased 73 tonnes over the year, more than four times its 2023 total of 16 tonnesCITE:E2. The People's Bank of China reported buying 44 tonnesCITE:E2.
| Buyer | 2024 Gold Purchases | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Poland (NBP) | +90 tonnes | Largest single buyer of the yearCITE:E2 |
| Turkey (CBRT) | +75 tonnes | — CITE:E2 |
| India (RBI) | +73 tonnes | More than 4x its 2023 purchases of 16 tonnesCITE:E2 |
| China (PBoC) | +44 tonnes | — CITE:E2 |
| Global net total | 1,045 tonnes | Third straight year above 1,000t; vs. 473t/year average, 2010–2021CITE:E1 |
Roughly $300 billion of Russia's central bank reserve assets were frozen by Western governments after Russia's 2022 invasion of UkraineCITE:E6. Russia's central bank "confirmed that about $300 billion worth of assets have been frozen in the West," per ReutersCITE:E6. The episode exposed the political risk attached to holding reserves in foreign currencies subject to another government's jurisdiction, a risk that does not apply to gold held domestically.
The World Gold Council's 2025 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey found that 73% of respondent central banks expect moderately or significantly lower US dollar holdings within global reserves over the next five yearsCITE:E3. A record 43% of respondents said they expect their own gold reserves to increase over that same five-year periodCITE:E3.
Gold crossed $3,000 per ounce in intraday trading for the first time in the early hours of Friday, March 14, 2025, and did so again on Monday, March 17, 2025, the World Gold Council reportsCITE:E4.
Gold became the world's second-largest official reserve asset by market value in 2024, trailing only the US dollar and surpassing the euro, the European Central Bank reportsCITE:E5. The ECB attributes this ranking to the combination of central banks' large existing gold stockpiles and higher gold prices during the year — a valuation effect layered on top of the physical buying documented aboveCITE:E5.
Gold and bitcoin diverged sharply in 2025, undercutting bitcoin's "digital gold" narrativeCITE:E7. During market stress in 2025, gold reasserted itself as a crisis hedge while bitcoin traded more like a risk asset moving with broader markets, CNBC's year-end review foundCITE:E7. Central bank reserve buying, as documented in the World Gold Council and ECB data above, has flowed into physical gold rather than bitcoin.
The sequence lines up: roughly $300 billion of Russia's reserves were frozen in 2022CITE:E6, and by 2024 central banks were buying gold at a net 1,045 tonnes a year — more than double the 2010–2021 averageCITE:E1, led by Poland, Turkey, India, and ChinaCITE:E2. That buying, combined with gold's climb through $3,000/oz in March 2025CITE:E4, pushed gold past the euro into second place among global reserve assets by market value in 2024CITE:E5. The 2025 survey shows this is not seen as a one-off: 73% of central banks expect the dollar's reserve share to keep falling and 43% plan to keep adding goldCITE:E3. Bitcoin, despite its "digital gold" branding, did not benefit from this same reserve-diversification flow in 2025CITE:E7.
Central banks added a net 1,045 tonnes to global gold reserves in 2024, the third consecutive year that demand surpassed 1,000 tonnes and far above the 473-tonn…
Roughly $300 billion of Russia's central bank reserve assets were frozen by Western governments after Russia's 2022 invasion of UkraineCITE:E6.
The World Gold Council's 2025 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey found that 73% of respondent central banks expect moderately or significantly lower US dollar ho…
Gold crossed $3,000 per ounce in intraday trading for the first time in the early hours of Friday, March 14, 2025, and did so again on Monday, March 17, 2025, t…
The headline of gold overtaking the euro as the world's second-largest reserve asset in 2024 is partly a price story, not just a buying story — the ECB itself frames it as existing stockpiles plus higher prices, not purchases alone. That matters because the 1,045 tonnes bought in 2024 is a flow figure, while the reserve-ranking shift reflects the much larger existing stock being repriced upward. The more useful number to track going forward is the gap between sentiment and action: 73% of central banks expect the dollar's reserve share to fall, but only 43% say they will actually add gold over the same five-year window. Whether that 43% intention rate shows up as realized tonnage in next year's World Gold Council data — and whether it approaches or falls short of the 1,045-tonne pace set in 2024 — is the concrete signal that will show whether de-dollarization is accelerating or just being talked about.
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