World Gold Council India sees gold consumption down 12% this year

Sat Dec 20 2025

India's gold consumption is expected to fall to 650-700 tonnes this year from 802.8 tonnes in 2024 after a price surge crimped demand in one of the world's biggest bullion markets.

Gold prices have rallied more than 65% since January. The yellow metal's retail price was at Rs 1,32,394 per 10 gm as of Friday.

"Despite elevated prices, consumers are continuing to favour 22 karat lightweight plain gold jewellery rather than switching to lower karat alternatives such as 18 karat, 14 karat and 9 karat, even as the government introduced hallmarking facilities for those products," said Sachin Jain, CEO of the World Gold Council (WGC) India. "Indians will take time to shift to lower karat gold jewellery."

Gold demand in the country continues to show divergent trends-sustained strength in investment demand contrasts with weakness in the jewellery segment. "Feedback from industry stakeholders, mainly manufacturers and retailers, indicates that gold jewellery volumes are lower year-on-year despite the wedding season, as higher prices and affordability are weighing on consumption," said Jain.

India's total gold consumption was at 462.4 tonnes during January-September, according to WGC data.

Total gold imports reached $55 billion year-to-date, a 2% increase over the previous year. However, by volume, imports declined about 20% to around 580 million tonnes, making the value increase purely a factor of higher prices.

Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/