In an interesting development, the Bank of Korea (BOK) announced plans to incorporate overseas-listed physical gold ETFs (exchange-traded funds) into its foreign reserve portfolio from the first quarter of 2026.
Buying of gold by central banks across the world eased in January 2026 compared with the previous 12-month average of 27 tonnes, the World Gold Council (WGC) said. However, net purchases were up.
“Net purchases for the month of January totalled five tonnes. Volatile gold prices and the holiday season may have given some central banks pause, though geopolitical tensions, which have shown little sign of abating, are likely to keep accumulation going through 2026 and beyond,” said WGC’s senior research lead, APAC (Asia-Pacific), Marissa Salim.
The Central Bank of Uzbekistan purchased 9 tonnes. The bank has been accumulating gold since October, lifting its gold reserves to 399 tonnes as of January end.
Unprecedented growth
“The growth in Uzbekistan’s gold reserves has been quite unprecedented. It stood at 57 per cent in the same period in 2020 and grew to 86 per cent of its reserves as of January 2026,” said Salim.
Bank Negara Malaysia was a new buyer, purchasing 3 tonnes in January. It was its first buy since 2018. The bank lifted its gold reserves to 42 tonnes, or 5 per cent of its total reserves by the end of January.
Other central banks which bought gold included the Czech Republic (2 tonnes), Indonesia (2 tonnes) and China and Serbia (1 tonne) each. With China buying gold for 15 consecutive months, the precious metal now makes up about 10 per cent of its total reserves, said the WGC research lead.
Largest net seller
On the other hand, the Bank of Russia was the largest net seller, offloading 9 tonnes. The Bulgarian National Bank sold 2 tonnes, which transferred the gold to the ECB as part of the country’s euro adoption that took place on January 1, 2026. Bulgaria is the 21st member of the European Union. The Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic central banks also cut their gold reserves, each by one tonne.
In an interesting development, the Bank of Korea (BOK) announced plans to incorporate overseas-listed physical gold ETFs (exchange-traded funds) into its foreign reserve portfolio from the first quarter of 2026. This marks its first gold-related investment since 2013.
The Korean bank cited liquidity and ease of tradability as key advantages of the ETF structure over physical gold. Currently, the BOK holds 104 tonnes of physical gold (roughly 4 per cent of its total reserves).
Salim said WGC’s Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey 2025 found that accessing gold via ETFs is rather uncommon amongst central banks: none of the respondents whom it surveyed opted for it as a method to purchase gold.
Salim said the broadening of demand from central bankers might be an emerging key theme in 2026. “As we have seen in January, both Malaysian and Korean central banks have resumed interest in increasing gold exposure after prolonged absences,” she said.
Published on March 9, 2026
