Central banks, record first-quarter over-the-counter purchases support gold demand

Continued exchange-traded fund (ETF) outflows drove gold demand, excluding over-the-counter (OTC) purchases, down by 5% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year to 1 102 t. However, including sizeable OTC purchases by investors, total gold demand increased by 3% year-on-year to 1 238 t, which the World Gold Council (WGC) says is the strongest first quarter for gold demand since 2016.