Total gold demand including over-the-counter activity was unchanged year on year at 1,269 tonnes in the second quarter, taking the first half to 2,522 tonnes, a rise of about two per cent. In value terms the same six months were worth a record 380 billion dollars. That divergence is the most honest summary of the gold market in 2026.
Volume tells you about consumers, value tells you about the price
Record value with flat tonnage means the market is being carried by price rather than by broadening participation. Jewellery buyers in the largest consuming markets respond to price by trimming weight rather than abandoning a purchase, which keeps spending resilient while tonnage erodes. Investment demand does the opposite: it buys the price, not the gram. Reading the value headline as evidence of a demand boom mistakes one for the other.
The soft spots
Exchange traded funds came under selling pressure in the quarter with moderate outflows, and consumer tonnage in the price-sensitive markets has not recovered to pre-rally levels. A market held up by official-sector accumulation and high-value investment flows is a narrower market than one supported by a broad consumer base, and narrow markets correct faster when the marginal buyer steps back.
The constructive read
Flat demand at a much higher price is itself a result. Most commodities shed volume sharply as prices set records; gold has largely absorbed the move without demand destruction, which is what a genuine store-of-value function looks like in practice. The half-year data does not describe a mania. It describes a repriced asset that its buyers have decided to keep holding.
