A new report from DBS Bank reveals that a significant portion of central banks are considering Asia as a strategic location for storing their gold reserves. The findings, published in a white paper titled Gold in an Age of Transformation, highlight that roughly a quarter of central banks surveyed are actively evaluating Asian hubs for official gold reserve storage. This shift underscores the growing importance of Asia in the global gold market, driven by factors such as market liquidity, regulatory clarity, and trusted infrastructure.
The research, based on a survey conducted by Kantar in September 2026, also indicates that half of the asset managers and banks surveyed expressed increased interest in Asian gold infrastructure due to its state-backed support. Taimur Baig, Chief Economist at DBS Bank, emphasized that Asia has long been the largest source of physical gold demand, despite the trading infrastructure remaining concentrated in Western financial centers. He noted that as Asia's role expands, building trusted market infrastructure will be crucial.
The report highlights that central bank gold holdings have grown steadily by an average of 1.2% annually from 2009 to 2025, driven by geopolitical tensions, sanctions risks, and concerns about reserve concentration. The paper also points to the potential of gold-based digital and other investment products in the region, with respondents ranking exchange-traded funds, derivatives, and tokenized gold as the channels expected to grow most strongly over the next 12 months.
Asia accounted for more than half of the global demand for physical gold bars, coins, and jewelry in 2025, with total gold demand reaching a record value of $555 billion. The DBS report suggests that stronger regional infrastructure could deepen liquidity during Asian trading hours, ease local clearing and settlement, and support more trading in gold bar formats.