Page 22 - Bullion World Volume 03 Issue 07 July 2022

Bullion World | Volume 5 | Issue 09 | September 2025

The Review

The precious metals market in 2025
is defined by record-breaking prices,
shifting demand structures, and a

rebalancing of traditional consumption
patterns. Gold remains the ultimate
JAPAN
safe-haven asset, supported by central
bank purchases and investor flows,
Japan’s gold demand in 2025 reflects its unique
macroeconomic position, as its gold demand though its jewellery base has weakened
dynamics differ from those of its Asian peers. A under the weight of high prices. Silver,
weak yen has made gold particularly attractive meanwhile, is carving out a dual identity
to domestic investors as a store of value, and as both a financial hedge and a critical
households tend to sell to take advantage of
a long-standing practice of profit-taking in a industrial input, with green-energy
high-price environment. Retail bar and coin transitions driving robust consumption
demand has been modest, partly due to profit- growth. Country-specific patterns
taking after recent price surges, but ETF inflows represent this intricacy. China’s policy-
have remained positive. Japanese households
have historically preferred cash and deposits, driven accumulation, India’s gradual
but recent inflationary pressures and currency financialisation of demand, and Japan’s
depreciation have nudged a segment of savers currency-hedging behaviour collectively
into precious metals. While Japan’s share of illustrate how diverse the drivers of
global demand is smaller than China’s or India’s,
its behaviour provides an important case study in precious metals can be. In the future,
how advanced economies adapt gold investment both metals are likely to sustain elevated
strategies under currency stress. prices through the remainder of 2025,
albeit with intermittent volatility. For
Silver, by contrast, benefits from Japan’s strength
in high-value manufacturing. The demand for policymakers, investors, and industry
fabrication in Japanese electronics and power participants, the lesson is clear that
electronics has remained resilient, driven by precious metals cannot be understood
AI-related data centre expansion and renewable- in isolation from broader economic,
energy applications. This positions Japan as a
consistent industrial demand centre for silver, cultural, and geopolitical currents.
irrespective of price cycles.

15. Khanna, S. (2025). ETFs own 67 tonnes of gold as holdings rise by 42% YoY. The Economic Times, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/mf/mf-
news/etfs-own-67-tonnes-of-gold-as-holdings-rise-by-42-yoy/articleshow/123389353.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_
campaign=cppst
16. Gold investment market and financialisation: India gold market series 2023, World Gold Council, https://www.gold.org/goldhub/research/gold-
investment-market-and-financialisation-india-gold-market-series
17. Jadhav, R & Choubey, A. (2025). Volatile prices stifle gold demand in top Asian hubs. Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/markets/stocks/volatile-
prices-stifle-gold-demand-top-asian-hubs-2025-08-22/
18. World Silver Survey 2025

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