Uzbekistan has once again taken the first place in the world for gold sales in March, as reported by the World Gold Council.
According to publicly available data, the net volume of gold purchases by central banks amounted to 16 tons. The demand remained high, with purchases reaching 40 tons and sales at 25 tons.
All major buyers were from emerging markets. The Central Bank of Turkey increased reserves by 14 tons, while the Central Banks of India and China each increased by 5 tons. Following closely are Kazakhstan and Singapore, each with 4 tons.
In March, Uzbekistan sold 11 tons of gold, surpassing Thailand (10 tons) and Jordan (4 tons).
In February, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan also topped the global charts by selling 12 tons of gold.
In 2023, Uzbekistan became the second-largest gold seller in the world. Net gold sales exceeded 25 tons, trailing Kazakhstan, which held the top spot by twice the amount.
According to the statistics agency, in March, Uzbekistan exported gold worth $1.35 billion, and since the beginning of the year, the total exports amounted to $2.66 billion, representing 41.7% of the country's total exports.
In March, the country's gold and foreign exchange reserves grew to $34.2 billion amid record gold price increases. However, the physical volume of the precious metal in reserves decreased by 10.9 tons, reaching the lowest level since May 2022.
