What central banks and other official entities do can affect the price of gold. With this backdrop, which central banks would you guess are stockpiling gold in 2018?
Which central banks are net sellers of gold?
Take your guess, because the answers follow.
Geographic Map of the Net Sellers and Purchasers of Gold
The following is a look at the net sellers and purchasers of gold among central banks. The chart is color-coded, with the darker the country, the more the country has been a net purchaser of gold in 2018. The lighter the color, the more the country has been a net seller of gold.
Interestingly, the largest net purchaser of gold so far in 2018 has been the Russian central bank, having purchased 105.25 tonnes of gold. Perhaps surprisingly, it is difficult to make out the rest of the central banks. Because of this, the next two pages contain bar charts of the net sellers and purchasers of gold.
The Net Sellers
Who are the net sellers? Interestingly, the top net selling central bank (among banks that report monthly figures) is the Turkey Central Bank. Through June, Turkey has sold a net 27.48 tonnes of gold.
Other top net sellers of gold include Venezuela (sold 11.95 tonnes), Argentina (sold 6.84 tonnes), Australia (sold 4.11 tonnes), Germany (sold 3.76 tonnes), the Euro Area (sold 3.70 tonnes), Qatar (sold 3.11 tonnes), Sri Lanka (sold 2.48 tonnes), Ukraine (sold 1.24 tonnes), and Mongolia (sold 1.09 tonnes).
Are you surprised by any of the results?
It was a little surprising to see Germany, Australia, and the Euro Area on the list of net sellers.
The Net Purchasers
What about the net purchasers? Who are they?
Well, as already mentioned, the top net purchaser of gold so far in 2018 is Russia at 105.25 tonnes. In second place is Kazakhstan at 20.80 tonnes. Rounding out the top five include Argentina at 13.80 tonnes, India at 3.77 tonnes, and Colombia at 2.48 tonnes.
Other countries that added to their gold stockpiles include Kyrgyz Republic (1.96 tonnes) and Tajikistan (1.58 tonnes).
All other central banks of the list added less than 1 tonne to their gold holdings.
