Central banks are buying gold at record pace and moving away from the dollar

The world’s central banks are not subtle about where they stand right now. According to the World Gold Council’s 2026 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey, published June 16, 45% of central bank respondents plan to increase their gold holdings over the next 12 months. That’s up from 43% in 2025, and a significant jump from just 29% two years ago.

The numbers behind the gold rush

Over the past four years, central banks have averaged net purchases of 1,000 tonnes of gold annually. The decade before that, the average was 500 tonnes per year. In Q1 2026 alone, central banks recorded 244 tonnes in purchases. Then came April, 17 to 19 tonnes. Then May, another 41 tonnes, with Poland and China among the notable buyers.

A full 89% of survey respondents expect global central bank gold holdings to rise over the coming year. And 84% anticipate that gold’s share of total global reserves will increase over the next five years.

Some 74% of survey participants predict the US dollar’s share of global reserves will decline moderately to significantly over the next five years.

De-dollarization, in plain English

Half of survey respondents said they would fund new gold purchases primarily through domestic local-currency programs. Another 38% said they’d consider selling existing reserve assets to finance the shift. Central banks are increasingly storing gold domestically rather than in traditional custodian locations like the Bank of England or the Federal Reserve’s New York vault.

Poland has been one of Europe’s most aggressive gold buyers in recent years, motivated in part by proximity to geopolitical risk. China’s motivations are well-documented: reduce vulnerability to dollar-denominated sanctions and build an independent monetary foundation.

What this means for crypto markets

While central banks were buying 41 tonnes of gold in May 2026, Bitcoin ETFs recorded $8.9B in outflows. That’s institutions pulling money out of Bitcoin exposure at the same time sovereign wealth managers are loading up on gold.

Gold has 74% of central bank survey respondents predicting its reserve share rises. Bitcoin has sovereign institutions rotating out. The $8.9B in Bitcoin ETF outflows during May suggests that when institutional investors feel genuine geopolitical uncertainty, they reach for the asset with 5,000 years of precedent rather than 15 years of price history.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.