Switzerland loses its shine as central bank gold vault: demand signals for miners
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Central banks added a net 17 tonnes of gold in April and have accumulated about 1,000 tonnes over the past four years, yet the share stored with the Swiss National Bank has halved to 6% from 12% as institutions diversify away from Switzerland’s traditional neutrality. Nearly 90% of reserve managers expect to increase gold holdings, while 74% expect to cut US dollar reserves within five years, with advanced and emerging economies now aligned on this view. About half plan to fund new gold via local-currency domestic programmes rather than selling dollars, creating a structurally different demand channel for gold miners.
Technical Brief
- Net central bank gold buying resumed in April with 17 tonnes added after March net selling.
- Poland and China were the main April buyers, according to the World Gold Council report.
- Gold stored with the Swiss National Bank dropped from 12% to 6% of surveyed holdings in one year.
- 54% of reserve managers now treat trade conflicts and tariffs as relevant to reserve allocation decisions.
- Emerging market central banks were almost twice as concerned about tariff risk as advanced economy peers.
- Bullion traded around $4,318/oz on the survey’s publication Tuesday, after a mid‑May price dip and rebound.
- Around half of respondents cited gold’s inflation hedge, geopolitical hedge and portfolio diversification roles as primary motives.
Our Take
With central banks adding a net 17 tonnes of gold in April against an average of 500 tonnes a year over the past decade, the current pace in our database still points to steady but not yet extreme reserve accumulation, which may temper expectations for a sudden squeeze on physical bullion supply.
Nearly 90% of central banks in the WGC survey expecting higher gold reserves and 74% anticipating lower dollar holdings over five years aligns with other gold-tagged coverage where bullion is framed as a balance-sheet hedge rather than a pure price bet, signalling more structural support for long-term gold demand than for other commodities.
Half of surveyed central banks planning to fund new gold purchases in local currency suggests that bullion flows may increasingly bypass traditional dollar- and Swiss franc-centred channels, which could gradually reduce the relative importance of Switzerland and other G10 hubs in physical custody and trading logistics.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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