Central banks added more Gold in March but big sales sent net purchases negative

Central banks continued to buy gold in March; however, big sales by Turkey and Russia sent net purchases negative by 27 tonnes.

Officially, central banks globally bought 37 tonnes of gold in March, led by Poland.

The Gold buyers

Despite rumors that the country might tap into its gold reserves to fund defense spending, the National Bank of Poland added 11 tonnes of gold to its reserves in March. That drove its 2026 purchases to 31 tonnes, lifting the country’s gold reserves to 581 tonnes, making up around 31 percent of its total reserves.

Poland led central bank gold buying in 2025, adding 102 tonnes of gold to its holdings.

Late last year, the National Bank of Poland issued a statement saying it plans to purchase up to 150 more tonnes of gold, raising its holdings to a maximum of 700 tonnes.

NBP Governor Adam Glapiński said the increase in gold reserves would elevate Poland to an “elite” status.

“This will place Poland among the elite 10 countries with the largest gold reserves in the world.”

The Polish central bank already holds more gold than the European Central Bank. To put the country's gold reserves in context, in 1996, the NBP only held 14 tonnes of gold.

Glapiński recently floated a plan to sell $13 billion in gold to finance defense spending. He said the bank would “generate profits and to then buy it back.” However, the Polish central bank has not released any additional details about the plan.

Uzbekistan continued to add gold to its holdings in March, with a 9-tonne purchase.

The Uzbek central bank has purchased 25 tonnes of gold so far this year, boosting reserves to 416 tonnes. The country holds most of its reserves in gold, with the yellow metal accounting for around 88 percent of its total reserve assets. 

The National Bank of Kazakhstan came back to the table in March, expanding its gold reserves by 6 tonnes. So far this year, the Kazakh central bank has bought 13 tonnes of gold.

It is not unusual for central banks that buy from domestic sources, such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, to pivot back and forth between buying and selling.

The Czech Republic has been one of the most consistent buyers over the last few years. The trend continued in March, as the Czech central bank expanded its reserves by another 2 tonnes. The Czechs have adopted a slow, steady approach, buying gold for 37 straight months. The country added 20 tonnes to its holdings last year, and it now holds 78 tonnes of gold. Czech officials say they plan to increase gold reserves to 100 tonnes by 2028. 

China continued adding gold to its official reserves and sped up the pace of buying with a 5-tonne purchase as prices fell in March. The People's Bank of China has reported an increase in official reserves for 17 straight months.

It's reported that gold reserves now stand at 2,313 tonnes, making up almost 10 percent of total official reserves.

Notice the emphasis on "official."

China is among the central banks that are likely to hold significantly more gold than they publicly disclose. As Jan Nieuwenhuijs has reported, the People's Bank of China is secretly buying large amounts of gold off the books. According to data parsed by the renowned Money Metals researcher, the Chinese central bank is currently sitting on more than 5,000 tonnes of monetary gold located in Beijing – more than TWICE what has been publicly admitted.

Mainstream reporting has finally picked up on this.

Guatemala (2 tonnes) and the Kyrgyz Republic (1 tonne) also reported increases in their gold reserve in March.

The Gold sellers

We already knew that Turkey sold a significant amount of gold in February and March to backstop its currency and cover rising energy costs. The selling showed up in the March data with a 60-tonne decrease in Turkish gold reserves. This follows a 6-tonne decline in reserves in February.

Meanwhile, the Russians have also tapped into their gold reserves to support their economy and fill a budget hole in the wake of ongoing economic sanctions. The Central Bank of Russia reported a 6-tonne net decline in reserves in March.

The broader trend

Looking at the broader trend, central bank gold buying moderated in 2025 but remained far above the recent historical average. Official net full-year buying came in at 863.3 tonnes. That was down 21 percent year-on-year, charting the lowest level since 2021.

However, while central bank gold purchases declined last year, they were still well above the 2010-2021 annual average of 473 tonnes.

Last year was the fourth-largest expansion of central bank gold reserves on record. The all-time high was set in 2022 (1,136 tonnes). It was the highest level of net purchases on record, dating back to 1950, including since the suspension of dollar convertibility into gold in 1971.

The surging gold price was likely a factor in slowing central bank gold accumulation. As the World Gold Council put it, the higher price prompted “a more cautious approach.”

“This highlights that central banks are not insensitive to price dynamics, even as their long-term strategic interest in gold remains firmly intact.”

The New York Times discovers central banks are buying Gold

After more than three years, the New York Times suddenly discovered central banks are buying gold. On May 1, the paper reported, "Central banks around the world have bulked up their reserves of gold."

While she was a little late to the party, the Times reporter at least seems to understand the dynamics driving the central bank gold-buying spree, hitting on themes of inflation and the weaponization of the dollar. 

"Gold is seen as a good store of value when inflation rises, and it can usually be sold quickly when a country urgently needs cash. Crucially, it is harder for another country to interfere in a central bank’s stash with sanctions because gold is a physical object and not, like a bond or bank deposit, backed by a currency such as the dollar or euro."

This underscores why the expansion of central bank gold reserves will continue, big sales by Turkey and Russia notwithstanding. 

According to the NYT report, "A survey of central banks conducted in the first three months of the year found that more than one-third planned to increase their gold holdings in the next year, and the rest said they would maintain their current allocations."

This dovetails with the World Gold Council's view that “persistent economic and geopolitical uncertainty is likely to sustain demand for gold as a reserve asset.”

“We maintain our view that central banks will continue to add gold to their reserves. Our Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey 2025 shows that respondents overwhelmingly (95 percent) expect global central bank gold reserves to increase over the next 12 months, while 43 percent believe that their own gold reserves will also increase over the same period. Notably, none of the respondents anticipate a decline in their gold reserves.”