The World Gold Council (WGC) has reported that central banks across the globe have continued their gold buying in October, as net monthly purchases for the month added up to 42 tons.

In its report, published last week, the WGC noted that although the monthly figure was 41% lower than the 72 tons purchased in September, it was still 23% higher than the monthly average for the period from January to September, which was 34 tons.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) continues to be the world’s largest buyer of bullion, with 23 tons of gold purchased in December, which was the 12th month in a row that it added to its reserves. The purchases for December brought the total purchases for the year by the PBoC to 204 tons, and the total reserves of the bank to 2,215 tons. The WGC wrote, “Despite the significant increase, reported gold reserves still account for just 4% of the bank’s total international reserves.”

Also making significant purchases was the central bank of Türkiye, which purchased 19 tons, which brought its official holdings (central bank and Treasury holdings) to 498 tons.

Outside of these two banks, the report noted that other purchases were more modest in size. The National Bank of Poland purchased an additional six tons to add to its stockpile. Over the year it has added more than 100 tons to its reserves of the yellow metal, increasing its total reserves to 340 tons. The report noted that other significant buyers in October included, the Reserve Bank of India, the Czech National Bank, the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic, and the Qatar Central Bank.

The report also noted that purchases of gold by central banks have been heavily outweighing sales over the course of the year.

The WGC concluded, “Even before October’s net buying, we noted that 2023 was likely to be another colossal year of central bank buying. Having started Q4 positively, this year’s central bank demand looks set to climb even higher.”