MW Central banks plan to keep buying more gold. Here's an interesting step they're taking to store it safely.

By Myra P. Saefong

Many central banks expect to boost gold purchases over the next year, according to World Gold Council survey

Some central banks plan to further diversify their gold storage locations, according to a survey conducted by the World Gold Council.

While gold prices on Comex haven't touched a record high since late January, a key reason for their climb back then to all-time intraday highs above $5,600 an ounce - namely, buying by global central banks - has proven to be resilient.

Most central banks expect to buy more gold (GC00) over the next year, and many have decided to broaden their storage locations for the metal to better protect access to their reserves, according to the World Gold Council. That's despite a rush for liquidity across assets, including gold, brought on by the war in the Persian Gulf.

Confidence in gold remains strong, said Shaokai Fan, global head of central banks and head of Asia-Pacific, excluding China, at the World Gold Council - even as central banks have already purchased an average of about 1,000 metric tons, or 1 million kilograms, a year for four consecutive years.

From 2022 to 2024, annual purchases of gold by global central banks actually topped 1,000 metric tons, according to the World Gold Council. That's about double the 400 to 500 metric tons of gold they bought on average for each year from 2012 to 2021.

Last year, central-bank purchases came in a little short of that 1,000 figure. They were at 863.3 metric tons, which was down 21% from the 1,092.4 metric tons purchased in 2024.

Global central banks have added to their gold reserves each year since at least 2010, according to a chart provided by the World Gold Council.

Gold purchases were "somewhat modest" through much of 2025 as central banks navigated a rapid rally in prices, which reached multiple record highs that year, according to the WGC.

Even so, buying by central banks was key to gold's rise to record-high closing prices 54 times in 2025 and 10 times so far this year, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Based on the most active contract, gold climbed to as high as $5,626.80 on Jan. 29, which stands as the record intraday high.

Plans to buy more and keep it safe

Central banks typically take a long-term strategic approach to management of their reserves, WGC's Fan told MarketWatch.

So it comes as no surprise that a record-high percentage - 45% of the global central-bank managers who responded to a survey conducted by the World Gold Council - expect their own gold reserves to increase over the next year. The survey was conducted between Feb. 5 and May 19, and was released Tuesday.

They cited the precious metal's strong performance during times of crisis, its long-term store of value and portfolio diversification as key reasons for holding gold, Fan noted.

Those characteristics have become "increasingly important in an environment marked by geopolitical uncertainty, elevated debt levels, inflation risks and questions around the future composition of global reserves," he said.

And it's become increasingly important to consider where that gold is being stored.

The WGC survey - which saw a record-high 76 responses from central banks around the world, the majority coming after the onset of the Middle East conflict - showed that 10% of respondents had diversified to overseas storage locations over the past 12 months, while 9% said they had increased domestic storage. Last year's survey showed that just 2% diversified their overseas storage locations and 5% increased their domestic storage.

When it comes to future plans on gold storage, 9% said they expect to diversify overseas storage locations and 7% plan to raise domestic storage in the coming 12 months.

In a more geopolitically uncertain environment, some central banks are reviewing how and where reserve assets are held, said Fan. So while the Bank of England remained the most widely used storage location for the survey's respondents, some said they had chosen to "diversify storage arrangements" rather than concentrate holdings in a single location.

It's an interesting finding and shows a greater emphasis on flexibility, resilience and diversification in their reserve management operations, according to Fan.

Diversifying storage locations can help reduce concentration risk and strengthen operational resilience, he noted. That shows a growing recognition of gold as a "strategic reserve asset" across a wide range of institutions.

Unfazed by a bear market

More recently, however, gold prices entered a bear market - with prices on June 10 having fallen by more than 20% from their March highs.

On Tuesday, the August gold contract (GCQ26) settled at $4,354.40 an ounce, up just 0.3% year to date, according to Dow Jones Market Data. It's down 5.2% for the month.

But that doesn't appear to have fazed confidence in the precious metal.

The WGC survey suggests that the "strategic" case for gold remains intact regardless of recent price moves, said Fan.

Given that many of the survey's respondents expect to add more gold to their reserves in the next year, that suggests demand is being driven by long-term reserve management considerations rather than short-term market timing, he said.

The WGC, meanwhile, said the survey suggests that central-bank demand for gold will likely "remain healthy into the foreseeable future."

-Myra P. Saefong

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 16, 2026 15:19 ET (19:19 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.