Analysts named Russia and China the largest buyers of gold for the year

Purchases of gold by central banks has become a record for 55 years, the leaders are Russia and China
Only for the third quarter of the world's central banks have bought nearly 400 tons of gold, such interest in gold was not for decades. The last time increased demand was one of the reasons for the collapse of the Bretton Woods system.

The demand for gold by central banks this year exceeded indicators for 55 years - since 1967, analysts of the World Council on Gold (WCG), writes Financial Times.

Analysts believe that the main buyers are Russia and China. Turkey (31 tons) and Uzbekistan (26 tons) became the official leaders in purchases in the third quarter.

The publication explains this trend by the desire of countries to diversify reserves, abandoning the dollar. Experts noted that estimates of the volume of gold purchases are significantly higher than official figures, which gives rise to speculation among manufacturers as to the identity of buyers and their motives. The FT wrote that conservative estimates of WGC exceeded the amount of purchases, as reported by the IMF and individual central banks (333 tons from the beginning of the year to September).

In November, official financial institutions bought 673 tons of gold, and for the entire third quarter, central banks alone purchased 399.3 tons of gold - a record volume for a quarter since 2000, when they began keeping quarterly statistics. It was also 115% more than the quarter before.