Central banks are preparing to deepen their commitment to gold at a scale not seen in modern reserve management, according to a closely watched survey of global monetary institutions. The World Gold Council’s annual poll found that 89 per cent of reserve managers expect total official-sector gold holdings to rise over the next twelve months, while a record 45 per cent intend to add to their own institution’s stockpiles — a two-point increase on the previous year. Only 1 per cent of the 74 central banks that responded said they planned to reduce their gold positions, a signal viewed in European financial circles as a decisive vote of confidence in bullion’s role as a strategic anchor.

Beneath the headline numbers lies a parallel shift that is redrawing the geography of sovereign wealth: central banks are increasingly unwilling to store their gold in the traditional hubs of New York and London. The survey shows that 9 per cent of respondents have already boosted domestic storage over the past year, up from 5 per cent in the prior survey, while 10 per cent have diversified their overseas vaulting arrangements — a fivefold increase. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Bank of England together still hold roughly 900,000 bars worth close to $1.7 trillion, but Russian and Iranian analysts note that the drive to repatriate reflects a structural erosion of trust. Sanctions, the freezing of reserves, and the weaponisation of the dollar-based financial system have convinced many emerging-market central banks that proximity to their own bullion is a form of insurance.

Viewed from the Gulf, where reserve managers have been steadily accumulating gold, the metal is increasingly treated as a crisis hedge rather than a passive legacy asset. The survey was conducted between February and May, with the bulk of responses arriving after the eruption of conflict in the Middle East in late February — an event that pushed oil prices higher and gold temporarily lower, yet did nothing to dent reserve managers’ conviction. A majority of respondents said they would keep their gold holdings steady, but the direction of travel is unmistakable: gold is being elevated from a mere portfolio diversifier to a core component of national balance sheets.

The forward-looking implications extend well beyond the vault. If the dollar’s share of global reserves continues to face pressure — a theme that surfaces repeatedly in the survey — gold’s renaissance as a central-bank asset could accelerate. Analysts in London point out that the metal’s lack of political counterparty risk makes it uniquely attractive in an era of frozen assets and fractured alliances. With 45 per cent of institutions planning to buy more, and a growing number determined to keep it within their own borders, the bullion market is absorbing not just a cyclical bid but a structural realignment of how sovereigns think about safety.