Central banks increased their gold reserves by 31 tons in October, bringing their total holdings to the highest level in 48 years, the financial website ZeroHedge reported on December 7. The UAE central bank was the biggest buyer of gold in October.

After increasing gold reserves to an all-time high in the third quarter, central banks began to buy more gold in the fourth quarter.

Central banks around the world added another 31 tonnes to their official reserves in October, according to data compiled by the World Gold Council (World Gold Council). The central bank's gold holdings are now at their highest level since 1974.

The central bank of the United Arab Emirates was the largest buyer of gold in October, with reserves rising by a little more than 9 tons. The UAE's gold reserves have increased by 18 tons so far this year.

Turkey also continued to buy gold, buying about 9 tons in October. The country's central bank is the largest buyer of gold in 2022, adding 103 tons of gold reserves so far this year.

Uzbekistan has also been increasing its gold holdings. The country added nine tons of gold reserves in October, buying gold for the seventh month in a row. This brings its annual net purchase to 37 tons, although it sold nearly 25 tons in the first quarter of the year.

The State Bank of Kazakhstan increased its official gold reserves by 3 tonnes in October and net sales fell to 18 tonnes this year. In addition, Qatar increased its holdings by 1 tonne. By the end of September, the National Bank of Cambodia had bought a net 2 tonnes of gold, according to the latest IMF data. Cambodia made a large number of gold purchases between July and September this year, bringing the country's total gold reserves to 52 tons.

India has been buying gold for months. India currently has 781 tons of gold, making it the ninth largest holder of gold in the world. Since resuming purchases at the end of 2017, the Reserve Bank of India has bought more than 200 tons of gold. In August 2020, it was reported that the Reserve Bank of India was considering a significant increase in gold reserves.

Central banks increased their holdings by nearly 400 tonnes in the third quarter, according to data compiled by the World Gold Council. This is 300% higher than in the third quarter of 2021 and the largest quarterly increase in central bank gold reserves since the World Gold Council began recording in 2000.

Including mysterious purchases, central banks around the world added 393.3 tonnes of gold (net purchases) in the third quarter alone. Together with October purchases, the total purchase in 2022 is about 704 tons. This is higher than any annual increase in central bank purchases of gold since 1967.

In 2021, central banks added 463 tonnes of gold to global reserves. This is 82% higher than in 2020.

A survey by the World Gold Council found that gold's performance in times of crisis and its role as a long-term value store / inflation hedge were key determinants of central banks' decision to hold gold.