Central-bank gold buying · July 2026 revision · A forensic look at the headline.
The number that vanished
The World Gold Council’s first-quarter estimate was radically revised after Metals Focus reassessed buying that had not been publicly disclosed.
WGC’s July revision
- Central-bank demand
- 243.7 → 56.5t
- Reduction
- −187.2t
- Change
- −77%
- Reclassified
- 187t → OTC & other
- Total Q1 demand
- 1,230.9 → 1,253.1t
WGC’s 2025 headline total was 863.3 tonnes. It said 57% reflected “substantial opaque activity”—the gap between Metals Focus estimates and official data. That implies about 492 tonnes unreported and 371 tonnes reported, but the split is arithmetic, not independently confirmed; secondary summaries disagree.
WGC says the headline combines reported changes with estimated unreported buying, while its monthly statistics contain only public reports. Its Q1 note defines unreported buying as the residual between estimated demand and reported purchases—a figure that can change when late disclosures arrive.
288.9tonnes
WGC’s Q2 2026 central-bank demand estimate
+62% YoY · roughly 5× revised Q1