Around the world, central banks and supranational organizations – such as the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of International Settlements – currently hold nearly 34,000 tonnes of gold as reserve assets, the World Gold Council reported in a market primer on Thursday.
The official holdings represent approximately 17% of total above-ground stocks, based on WGC’s calculation that a total of 197,576 tonnes have been mined throughout history.
The Council states that while central banks base their investment strategy on numerous factors, the primary reason for recent gold buying came down to heightened economic and political risks, low negative interest rates and the rebalancing of allocations.
Gold is one of the few assets that is universally permitted by the investment guidelines of the world’s central banks, and the gold market is relatively deeper and more liquid compared with other investment assets.
According to the Council’s estimates, gold has provided reserve managers with an average annual return of nearly 10% (in US dollars) since 1971.