Gold Supply and Demand – Q1 2009

Tonnage gold demand in the first quarter of 2009 was up a strong 38% on the levels of a year earlier. In $US value terms, this represented a 36% rise to $29.7bn. Global economic conditions continued to take their toll on jewellery and industrial demand while underpinning safe haven demand from investors.

The gold price averaged $US908.41 during Q1, down 2% on the Q1 2008 average. However, this relatively flat result in $US terms masks significant gains in local currency terms for consumers in several key countries, including India and Turkey.

The biggest source of growth in demand for gold was investment. Identifiable investment demand reached 595.9 tonnes in Q1, up 248% from 171.3 tonnes in Q1 2008. Taking into account inferred investment, which in the first quarter largely reflected investor flows into bullion accounts, total investment off-take reached 711.2 tonnes, up 173% on the levels of a year earlier.

Read more about Gold Demand Trends in our detailed report, which also includes commentary on supply.

Press release: Gold demand surges as investors turn to wealth preservation

Data on the supply and demand for gold are compiled by GFMS Ltd. The company provides a number of tables exclusively for the World Gold Council. The following table shows a summary of gold demand. Links to more detailed tables, and to notes and copyright information, are given below. Please note the restrictions on disseminating these data.

Supply and demand statistics files

End-use consumption (tonnes) This provides details of jewellery consumption, industrial and dental fabrication, and all categories of investment which are statistically identifiable.

End-use consumption ($m) Similar information in US dollars.

Supply and demand (tonnes) In addition to a summary of demand information this also shows the categories of supply: mine output, net hedging or de-hedging by mining companies, scrap and net central bank sales.

Notes and copyright information

 

Identifiable gold demand ¹

Notes: Source: GFMS Ltd. 1. Identifiable end-use consumption excluding central banks. 2. Provisional . 3. “Other retail” excludes primary coin offtake; it represents mainly activity in North America and Western Europe.  4. Exchange Traded Funds and similar products including:  Gold Bullion Securities, (London) , Gold Bullion Securities (Australia),  SPDR® Gold Shares (formerly streetTRACKS Gold Shares), NewGold Gold Debentures, iShares Comex Gold Trust, ZKB Gold ETF, GOLDIST, ETF Securities Physical Gold, XETRA-GOLD, Julius Baer Physical Gold, Central Fund of Canada, and Central Gold Trust.

© Copyright 2009 World Gold Council and GFMS Ltd. All rights reserved.

Data on the supply and demand for gold are compiled by GFMS Ltd. The company provides a number of tables exclusively for the World Gold Council. Please refer to the notes and copyright information for details regarding the restrictions on disseminating these data. GFMS should be contacted for further information or for historical data. In addition, certain data are available on Bloomberg.