A record survey of reserve managers shows gold’s role is expected to grow as central banks reassess dollar exposure amid geopolitical and inflation risks.
Central banks are signalling that gold’s role in the global reserve system is set to expand further, while confidence in the US dollar continues to ebb. In the World Gold Council’s 2026 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey, 89% of respondents said they expect official gold holdings worldwide to rise over the next 12 months. The same survey found that 74% believe the dollar’s share of total reserves will be lower in five years’ time, while 84% expect gold to represent a larger slice of reserves over that period.
That outlook comes as central banks have been adding gold at a pace far above the long-term average. The World Gold Council said official-sector buying has averaged about 1,000 tonnes a year recently, roughly double the pace seen over the previous decade. The survey, which drew responses from 76 central banks and is the council’s highest-participation edition to date, suggests that reserve managers increasingly see bullion as a strategic asset rather than a passive store of value.
The shift also reflects a broader reassessment of dollar exposure. Gold.org says the dollar’s share of global reserves has fallen from about 71% in 2000 to around 54% today, and the drop has become more pronounced since 2022, after Russia’s foreign-exchange reserves were frozen by Western sanctions. For many reserve managers, that episode underlined a key difference between paper assets held abroad and gold held at home: one can be constrained by political decisions, the other cannot. The World Gold Council said the survey indicates that gold’s safety, liquidity and return characteristics have become more important in reserve management.
Recent buying patterns support that view. In the second quarter of 2026, central bank net demand for gold jumped to 289 tonnes from a revised 57 tonnes in the first quarter, according to the World Gold Council. Poland was the largest buyer, adding 51 tonnes and lifting its holdings to 632 tonnes by the end of June. The council concluded that central banks are likely to keep buying into the foreseeable future, as concerns over geopolitics, inflation and currency concentration continue to push gold higher up the reserve hierarchy.
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