World's Central Banks Bought 23 Tonnes of Net Gold in July; China and Poland Lead Buyers

According to Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing Kitco News and the World Gold Council's (WGC) latest report, the world's central banks recorded net gold purchases of 23 tonnes in July 2026. Marissa Salim, the Council's senior research manager for Asia-Pacific, said China (20 tonnes, its 21st straight month of buying) and Poland (8 tonnes) led buyers, while the Czech National Bank added 2 tonnes, its 41st consecutive month of purchases. On the selling side, Russia was the month's largest net seller at 6 tonnes, while Turkey, Jordan and Uzbekistan each sold 1 tonne.

Year to date, Poland leads with 90 tonnes added, toward a 700 tonne target, and China with 60 tonnes, 8 percent of its reserves, taking its total to about 2,366 tonnes. The Bank of Korea returned to gold for the first time in 13 years with an allocation of about 250 million dollars, nearly 2 tonnes, through gold backed ETFs, while Venezuela has asked the Bank of England to return about 4 billion dollars of its gold reserves. Total announced central bank gold purchases so far this year stand at about 130 tonnes, below the roughly 160 tonnes bought over the same period last year.