Central banks buy 39 tonnes of gold in August as China adds 20 tonnes
Key Facts
Reported net gold purchases by central banks totalled 39 tonnes in August 2026, according to an update published by the World Gold Council in October, as they continued adding the metal to official reserves. Total reported purchases from the start of the year through the end of August reached 170 tonnes, according to the council, with demand that month adding to the year's purchases. The People's Bank of China was among the buyers in August, adding 20 tonnes to its gold reserves during the month, according to the council's update. The council said China's central bank "added 20 tonnes to its gold reserves in August" in its monthly review of official institutions' activity. That puts Chinese buying at the centre of August's reserve additions, alongside the purchases the council recorded for central banks collectively.
In Poland, gold holdings stood at 648 tonnes as of August, according to the council's update published in October, bringing the country closer to its stated gold reserve target. That target is 700 tonnes, the level cited by the council in its account of Poland's accumulated gold reserves. Describing the country's progress towards its target in its review of official holdings, the council said it had "accumulated 648 tonnes of gold, with its 700-tonne target approaching". Russian activity, by contrast, leaned towards selling from the start of 2026 through August, according to the same World Gold Council update. Russia's net gold sales totalled 56 tonnes over that period, compared with China's additions in August and Poland's holdings approaching its target.
On a quarterly basis, net gold demand from central banks and other official institutions totalled 288.9 tonnes in the second quarter of 2026, according to the council's Gold Demand Trends report. The council compared that volume with demand of 177.9 tonnes in the second quarter of 2025, recording a 62% annual increase in purchases by these institutions. The council's quarterly estimates include activity by central banks and other official institutions that has yet to be disclosed, alongside activity those entities report. In a revision to the first quarter of 2026, Metals Focus lowered its estimate of central bank demand, according to a statement on the gold market published by the council. The firm's estimate for that quarter fell from 244 tonnes to 57 tonnes, a downward revision to its previous estimate of official demand during the period.
In a separate assessment of purchases, Goldman Sachs revised its model for tracking central bank gold demand, according to a report published by Investing.com in May. The revision came after the bank found its model had systematically underestimated purchases by those institutions since August 2025, the platform reported. The review covered the bank's tool for estimating current demand, following the discovery that purchases had been undercounted during the period beginning that month. In its forecast for 2026, Goldman Sachs projected central bank gold purchases would average 50 tonnes a month over the year. The bank compared that forecast average with a historical average of 17 tonnes a month before 2022, putting its projection for official buying above the level preceding that year.
In the market, spot gold traded at $4,147.22 an ounce in late-morning New York trading on 19 October 2026, according to an analysis of the metal published by Investing.com. A forecast published by Goldman Sachs in late August had targeted a gold price of $4,900 an ounce by the end of 2026. The bank used a reference price of $4,600 an ounce on 25 August in that forecast when outlining its expected path for the metal. The trading price cited in the October analysis was below the reference price the bank used in its forecast published in late August. Goldman Sachs' year-end target remained above the spot gold price recorded in the late-morning New York trading snapshot in October.
Regarding future reserve plans, a survey published by the World Gold Council in June 2026 showed that 45% of respondents expected their institutions' gold reserves to increase over the following year. The council described the share of central banks expecting to add gold to their reserves as "a new record high" in its presentation of the survey results and participating institutions' expectations. Over a longer horizon of five years from the survey date, 83% of respondents expected gold's share of total reserves to rise. The corresponding figure in the previous survey, conducted in 2025, was about 76%, according to a comparison the council published alongside this year's survey results. Respondents' expectations thus encompassed both an increase in their institutions' reserves over the year following the June survey and a rise in gold's weighting within total reserves over the five-year horizon.