Since 2022, central banks have been a major force in the precious metals market, purchasing record amounts of physical gold. Now, analysts are saying demand from central banks may be even higher than official reports suggest. China, in particular, appears to be buying large volumes of gold through channels that do not appear in public data, with trade flows and refinery shipments pointing to annual purchases 10 times larger than previously reported. This quiet accumulation is widely viewed as part of a long-term effort to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar, and it has become a major factor supporting gold’s meteoric rise to record prices. 

The scale and privacy of this gold buying have complicated efforts to gauge the true balance of supply and demand. Only a fraction of global central bank purchases is currently reported to international institutions, a sharp decline from earlier years. Analysts warn that the lack of transparency makes the market harder to read, especially as gold’s role in national reserves grows. Jeffrey Gundlach, a prominent asset manager, has pointed to this trend as evidence that gold has become a fully established “real asset class,” noting its performance and the seriousness with which institutional buyers now treat it. 

This surge in official-sector demand comes as private consumers also turn toward physical gold amid concerns about economic uncertainty and currency stability. With central banks expanding their holdings and global supply growth remaining limited, the underlying support for gold prices has strengthened. The combination of strategic government buying and broad consumer interest continues to place gold at the center of a global shift toward tangible assets.