Central Banks Buy 321 Tonnes Of Gold In Q3 2026; Purchases Rise 6% In First 9 Months - Times Now

Central banks purchased 321 tonnes of gold in the third quarter of 2026, with buying over the first nine months of the year running 6% higher than the same period a year earlier, according to Times Now. The figures point to continued official-sector demand, a factor that has become a persistent feature of the gold market in recent years.

Official-sector purchases matter because central banks typically buy with a long horizon, making their demand less sensitive to short-term price swings than jewellery or investment flows. Sustained accumulation can therefore tighten the pool of available metal and provide a structural backdrop to prices, even when other demand segments soften.

What to watch: whether Q4 buying keeps pace with the year-to-date trend, which central banks are behind the purchases, and how reported reserve data line up with the quarterly totals. Investors should also track how official demand interacts with ETF flows, currency moves and real yields — the forces that typically set gold's shorter-term direction. The Q3 figure describes demand, not a price forecast.