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Central bank gold statistics: Momentum eases in January while demand base broadens

Reported activity in January has been concentrated in:

• The Central Bank of Uzbekistan bought 9t during the month, continuing its buying streak since October. The purchase lifted its gold reserves to 399t. The growth in Uzbekistan's gold reserves has been quite unprecedented — it stood at 57% in the same period in 2020 and grew to 86% of its reserves as of January 2026.¹

• Bank Negara Malaysia was a new name amongst the gold purchasers, having bought 3t in January — its first increase since 2018. The central bank lifted its gold reserves to 42t, or 5% of its total reserves as of the end of January.

• Other central banks that bought gold this month include Czech Republic (2t), Indonesia (2t), China and Serbia at 1t each. China's 15 consecutive months of gold buying has lifted its gold reserves to nearly 10% of total reserves.

• Bank of Russia was the largest net seller this month (9t), followed by the Bulgarian National Bank (2t), which transferred its gold to the ECB as part of the country's euro adoption that took place on 1 January 2026, making Bulgaria the 21st member of the European Union.² Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic also decreased their gold reserves, each by one tonne.

Chart 2: Central bank gold purchases off to a slower start in 2026 Central bank net purchases and sales, tonnes Data to 30 January 2026, where available. Source: IMF, respective central banks, World Gold Council

Bank of Korea

The Bank of Korea (BOK) announced plans to incorporate overseas-listed physical gold ETFs into its foreign reserve portfolio from Q1 2026, marking its first gold-related investment since 2013. The BOK cited liquidity and ease of tradability as key advantages of the ETF structure over physical gold. The BOK currently holds 104t of physical gold (roughly 4% of its total reserves), placing it 41st in ranking among global peers. The Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey 2025 found that accessing gold via ETFs is rather uncommon amongst central banks: none of the respondents surveyed had opted for it as a method to purchase gold.

Conclusion

The broadening of demand from central bankers may be an emerging key theme in 2026. As seen in January, both the Malaysian and Korean central banks have resumed interest in increasing gold exposure after prolonged absences. The next 10–15 days could prove crucial in shaping the geopolitical backdrop this year, as US–Iran tensions continue to escalate with little indication of diplomatic resolution in sight. The strong pace of gold accumulation by central bankers since 2022 has been intertwined with how nations position themselves in a shifting world order.

Footnotes

¹ Based on LBMA Gold Price PM in USD on 30 January 2026. ² Bulgaria adopts euro as of 1 January 2026 | Access2Markets

Key fixes made: corrected "precedented" → "unprecedented", standardised bullet punctuation, cleaned up the chart caption styling, fixed sentence flow in the Bulgaria paragraph, and formatted footnotes and headings consistently.