Latest Video

Bullet briefing — Central banks buy, Russia makes bold claim

Central banks back in action

Central banks were back in action in April, purchasing a net 17 metric tons of gold.

According to the World Gold Council's data, that's a sizable rebound from March, when they sold a net 30 metric tons of the yellow metal as the Iran war began.

The organization says Poland was the top buyer for April at 14 metric tons, while China was next at 8 metric tons — that's the highest level for the Asian nation since December 2024, and it pushes China's gold-buying streak to an impressive 18 consecutive months.

Turkey, which attracted attention in March for selling 60 metric tons of gold, saw its reserves stay "virtually flat" in April. Its sales were reportedly for FX and liquidity purposes.

Gold reserves outpace treasuries

Underscoring gold's importance to central banks, a new report from the European Central Bank (ECB) shows that the precious metal is now the world's top reserve asset.

Gold accounted for 27 percent of all global central bank reserve assets as of the end of 2025, up from 20 percent the previous year. That puts it ahead of US treasuries at 22 percent.

While the ECB notes that this shift "largely reflects valuation effects," and suggests that moving forward gold will face limitations as a reserve asset, it also notes that central bank gold buying points to a desire to "strengthen balance sheet resilience" as geopolitical risks rise.

Russia gold estimate turns heads

But what about the gold that countries are mining, not buying?

This week Russia shared its first gold production estimate since its invasion of Ukraine, with the country's natural resources minister saying 480 to 500 metric tons are expected to be mined in 2026.

The numbers are attracting attention for multiple reasons. For one thing, the amount is about 50 percent higher than the World Gold Council's 2024 Russian gold output estimate; for another, it would place Russia well above China, which is currently the top producer.

In addition to that, Bloomberg states that two executives at Russian gold-mining companies have said they're skeptical about the number. While major producer Polyus is working to bring one of the world's largest gold mines online, no other significant deposits have started up in recent years.