According to the annual report of the World Gold Council, global demand for gold in 2022 increased by 18% and reached 4,741 tons, which is the highest since 2011. Experts note that purchases of gold by world central banks increased for the second year in a row and reached 1,136 tons. The main buyers of gold were regulators from developing countries, including Turkey and China. The authors of the report stressed that the Central Bank not only became net buyers of gold for the 13th year in a row, but also acquired the second largest volume of precious metal in the entire history of observations since 1950. Investment demand for gold increased by 10% and reached 1107 tons. In particular, purchases of bullion and coins increased by 2%, to 1,217 tons, and the outflow from gold-backed ETFs amounted to 110 tons, which corresponds to a cash outflow of about $3 billion. The use of gold in the technology sector decreased by 7% due to lower demand for consumer electronics and amounted to 309 tons. The annual demand for gold from jewelry companies decreased by 3% to 2,086 tons. The total supply of gold in 2022 increased by 2% and reached 4,755 tons. Analysts of the World Gold Council generally adhere to a positive outlook for gold for 2023 against the background of growing recession risks, the continued weakening of the dollar, as well as increased geopolitical risks.
