Demand for gold globally dropped 19 per cent during the July-September quarter to 892.3 tonne, largely due to weak consumer demand amid the pandemic, said a World Gold Council report.
So far in 2020, the demand stood at 2,972.1 tonne, around 10 per cent below the same period of 2019.
“Demand for gold dropped to 892.3t in Q3 – its lowest quarterly total since Q3 2009 -as consumers and investors continued to battle the effects of the global pandemic,” it said.
The report noted that jewellery demand improved from the Q2 record low, the combination of continued social restrictions, economic slowdown and a strong gold price continued to impact demand from jewellery buyers.
Gold jewellery demand during the period under review stood at 333 tonne, 29 per cent below an already relatively anaemic Q3 2019, it said.
In contrast, bar and coin demand strengthened, gaining 49 per cent y-o-y to 222.1 tonne. Much of the growth was in official coins, due to continued strong safe-haven demand in Western markets and Turkey, where coins are the more prevalent form of gold investment.
The third quarter of 2020 also saw continued inflows into gold-backed exchange traded funds (ETF), although at a slower pace than in the first half.
