Who buys the most gold in the world? Of course, it is the most populous countries - China and India - that generate the greatest demand for investment gold worldwide. However, in terms of per capita purchases, other countries were ahead last year. This data can be seen in the latest World Gold Council market report for the whole of last year 2021. At the same time, Germany entered the top five countries in terms of demand for the yellow precious metal.
The thing is that in 2021, investors in Germany purchased 2.1 grams of gold per capita. It was a record year. Having bought 161.6 tons of investment gold for their reserves, German investors have bought more of the precious metal than at any time since the WGC began collecting data on this indicator.
Hong Kong is in fourth place in this WGC ranking. In the former British crown colony, demand for gold per capita in 2021 was 3.3 grams. Last year, Hong Kong bought only 2.8 tons for investment purposes.
Those who travel to Kuwait encounter gold on every corner and in every imaginable form. In the emirate, 3.5 grams were sold per inhabitant in 2021. The total volume was 3.5 tons. This is enough for the third place in the WGC list.
In second place is a neighbor at the other end of the Persian Gulf. The United Arab Emirates purchased 7.7 tons of gold for their needs last year. Thus, the demand per capita amounted to 4.4 grams.
Meanwhile, Switzerland has been and remains the leader in this golden comparison. With a rate of 5.1 grams per inhabitant, it is an international leader. In 2021, the Swiss bought a total of 43.8 tons of the precious metal.
In terms of total demand for investment gold in 2021, China was in the lead with 285.5 tons. In second place is India with 186.5 tons. Germany (161.6 tons) came in third, ahead of the US with 116.9 tons.