Gold ETF Holdings Surpass 4,000 Tons, Half of U.S. Reserves

Thu Feb 05 2026

Last year’s surge in gold prices, continuing the investment frenzy, led to gold held by ETFs (exchange-traded funds) that allow easy investment in gold exceeding 4,000 tons (t) for the first time. This is the highest level since physical gold ETFs first emerged in the U.S. in 2004, amounting to a massive volume equivalent to half of the U.S.’s gold holdings (8,133 t), the largest in the world.

According to the World Gold Council’s *2025 Gold Demand Report* on the 5th, gold held by asset managers as the underlying asset for ETFs increased by 801 t from the previous year to 4,025 t last year. The value of the gold added to ETFs last year reached 89 billion dollars (approximately 130 trillion Korean won). Physical gold ETFs are products that purchase and hold actual gold in line with investor purchases, allowing easier buying and selling compared to gold bars, leading to capital inflows during periods of rising gold prices. The World Gold Council stated, “The surge in gold prices in the fourth quarter of last year caused ETFs to expand. A cyclical structure was formed where investors invested in ETFs upon seeing rising gold prices, and the expansion of ETFs in turn drove up gold prices.”

By region, North American gold ETF holdings increased the most by 446 t, followed by Asia (215 t) and Europe (131 t). The report stated, “Amid growing uncertainties such as heightened geopolitical tensions, concerns over the erosion of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s independence, and falling U.S. benchmark interest rates, demand for gold ETFs is expected to increase this year as well.”

In South Korea, ETFs such as Korea Investment Management’s *ACE KRX Gold Spot* and Mirae Asset Global Investments’ *TIGER KRX Gold Spot* are listed and traded. However, these ETFs are operated by linking their prices to the KRX Gold Spot Index of the Korea Exchange, rather than asset managers directly holding gold. By opening a gold trading account with a securities company, gold can be traded in a manner similar to ETFs on the KRX Gold Market of the Korea Exchange. The minimum trading unit is 1 gram.

Increased investment in gold ETFs, coupled with central banks’ gold purchases for asset diversification, drove total gold demand to surpass 5,000 t for the first time last year. The world’s central banks purchased 863 t of gold last year, a slight decrease from the previous year (1,092.4 t), but still a high level. The country that bought the most gold was Poland, which purchased 102 t, equivalent to the Bank of Korea’s gold holdings (104.4 t) for the year. Polish National Bank Governor Adam Glapinski recently indicated further gold purchases, stating, “We will increase gold reserves to 700 t for security purposes.” As of the end of last year, Poland’s central bank held 550 t of gold. Kazakhstan, which bought 67 t, ranked second, followed by Brazil (172 t) and Azerbaijan (38 t) in third and fourth places, respectively.

Gold prices, which had risen throughout last year and exceeded 5,200 dollars per troy ounce late last month, plummeted to 4,420 dollars on the 2nd before rebounding and surpassing the 5,000 dollar mark on the 4th. As of 9 a.m. on the 5th, the global gold price was trading at 5,001 dollars per troy ounce.

Source: https://www.chosun.com