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Whitepapers: World Gold Council

1-19 out of 19 results.

Australia's macro shifts and the case for gold

Australia’s economy continues to grow but resurgent inflation and the RBA’s decision to resume tightening raises questions around portfolio allocations. Australia's unique geopolitical positioning, with fortunes tied to Indo-Pacific trade partners while being strategically aligned with the US, has created an asymmetry that makes portfolio diversification crucial.

Gold as a strategic asset: 2026 edition

Gold has a key role as a strategic long-term investment and as a mainstay allocation in a well-diversified portfolio. Investors have been able to recognise much of gold’s value over time by maintaining a long-term allocation and taking advantage of its safe-haven status during periods of economic uncertainty.

Gold Demand Trends: Q4 and Full Year 2025

Gold demand hit record levels in 2025. Investment fuelled the gold market last year: safe haven and diversification motives drove huge ETF inflows and exceptional bar and coin buying.

Gold Outlook 2026: Push ahead or pull back

Gold surged in 2025, driven by risk and dollar weakness. Looking to 2026, the outlook is shaped by ongoing geoeconomic uncertainty. Gold may remain rangebound if current conditions persist. However, 2026 will likely continue to surprise.

A New Golden Age: Imagining The Future of Digital Gold

The gold industry faces a momentous transformation due to new technologies like blockchain and cryptocurrency. This report explores how digitalisation could redefine gold's role in financial markets.

Gold Demand Trends: Q2 2025

A second quarter of significant investment in gold-backed ETFs, along with elevated bar and coin buying, drove total Q2 gold demand up 3% y/y to 1,249t. Meanwhile, jewellery consumption weakened further in the face of record gold prices.

Gold mid-year outlook 2025

Gold rose 26% in H1 2025, outpacing major asset classes. As we look forward, consensus expectations of macroeconomic drivers suggest that gold may remain range-bound in H2 with the possibility of some upside.

Gold Demand Trends: Q1 2025

Key factors that have fuelled gold’s price rise in 2025 include the spectre of US tariffs, geopolitical uncertainty, stock market volatility and US dollar weakness. A sharp revival in gold ETF inflows led to a more-than-doubling of total investment demand for the quarter.

Gold Demand Trends: Full Year 2024

Gold demand hit a new record in 2024 on the back of central bank buying, continued growth in AI adoption, investment and gold bar purchasing, while annual jewellery consumption was down reflecting cost-of-living pressures.

Gold Outlook 2025: Navigating rates, risk and growth

As we look to 2025, all eyes are focused on what Trump’s second term may mean for the global economy. Thrill-seeking investors may benefit from an early wave of risk-on flows, but potential trade wars and inflationary forces may spill over into an expected subpar economic growth.

Gold Demand Trends, Q3 2024

Total gold demand gained 5% y/y to 1,313t. This strength was reflected in the gold price, which reached a series of new record highs during the quarter. The value of demand jumped 35% y/y to exceed US$100bn for the first time ever.

Gold Demand Trends Q2 2024

Global gold demand was up 4% y/y by the end of June, led by healthy OTC demand, record central bank purchases and improved ETF flows. In Australia, record gold prices, a strong AUD and economic pressures led to a 25% fall in gold consumption in Q2, though ETF investment remained stable.

The Super Retirement Approach

Most people recognise the importance of having superannuation, which makes them feel more secure about their future, but acknowledge that it should not be the only source of funding for a comfortable retirement.

Gold Demand Trends Q1 2024

Global gold demand was up 3% y/y, led by long and speculative investment from the OTC market, persistent central bank buying, and higher demand from Asian buyers. Australia was an outlier in the Asia region, recording its lowest quarter on record for gold consumption, though ETF holdings remained relatively stable.

Why gold in 2024? Safeguarding investment portfolios

With the soft-landing narrative on the ascendancy, optimism is high within capital markets today. But challenges are on the horizon. As such, we believe that investors should look closely at the portfolio benefits gold can bring.

Gold Demand Trends Full Year 2023

Another year of blistering central bank buying, together with resilient jewellery consumption, offset substantial annual ETF outflows. Sizable OTC investment was evident in gold’s price strength last year.

Gold Demand Trends Q2 2023

Latest Gold Demand Trends report shows gold continued to perform globally as central bank buying hit a first half record. Australian consumption fell 37% in Q2 as AUD gold prices hover at all-time high levels.

Gold mid-year outlook 2023: Between a soft and a hard place

Developed market central banks are nearing the end of their tightening cycles.1 For now, market consensus points to a mild contraction in the US in late 2023 and slow growth in developed markets.

The relevance of gold for Australian Self-Managed Super Funds

Gold, in Australian dollars, delivered positive returns in 2022 and this has continued so far in 2023. It has attracted attention: not only have global central banks continued to buy gold, but Australia’s sovereign wealth fund has also added gold to its portfolio.

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Want your loved ones to inherit your super? You can’t afford to skip this one step

One in five Australians die before retirement and most have not set up their super properly so their loved ones can benefit from all their hard work and savings. 

Super is catching up, but ageing is a triple-threat

An ageing Australia is shifting the superannuation system’s focus from accumulation to the lifecycle of retirement. While these pressures have been anticipated for decades, they are now converging at scale and driving widespread industry change.

Indexation implications – key changes to 2026/27 super thresholds

Stay on top of the latest changes to superannuation rates and thresholds for 2026, including increases to transfer balance cap, concessional contributions cap, and non-concessional contributions cap.

Has Australia wasted the last 30 years?

The 20 years after Peter Costello left Treasury have been deemed wasted...by Peter Costello. The missed opportunities for Australia began long before.  

The refinery problem: A different kind of energy crisis in 2026

The Strait of Hormuz closure due to US-Iran conflict severely disrupted global energy supply chains. While various emergency measures mitigated the crude impact, the refined product market faces unprecedented stress.

3 ways to defuse intergenerational anger

With the upcoming budget increasingly likely to include bold proposals to alter the tax code I’ve outlined three incremental steps with fewer unintended consequences.

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