The National Bank of Poland was the world’s largest central bank gold buyer in the second quarter of 2026, according to the latest World Gold Council report. At the same time, global demand for the metal remained broadly stable despite weaker flows into gold-backed ETFs. A separate survey commissioned by Tavex shows that gold also remains one of the investment options most frequently chosen by Poles, although most households still stop at saving rather than investing.
The average gold price in the second quarter of 2026 was $4,506.29 per ounce, 8% below the record average recorded in the first three months of the year.
That does not mean, however, that gold was cheaper than a year earlier. On the contrary, its average price was 37% higher than in the second quarter of 2025.
The cooling compared with the exceptionally strong start to the year did not trigger a collapse in demand either.
According to the World Gold Council report published on 30 July, total gold demand, including over-the-counter transactions, reached 1,269 tonnes in the second quarter and was broadly unchanged year on year.
For the entire first half of the year, demand reached 2,522 tonnes, up 2% from the same period a year earlier. In value terms, it hit a record $380 billion.
The data show a market in which short-term capital flows are increasingly diverging from purchases made with the intention of preserving value over many years – comments Tomasz Gessner, Chief Analyst at Tavex.
NBP becomes the world’s largest buyer
The strongest Polish element in the report concerns central bank activity.
Central banks purchased almost 289 tonnes of gold in the second quarter, 62% more than a year earlier. The single largest buyer was the National Bank of Poland, which increased its holdings by 51 tonnes.
Across the entire first half of 2026, NBP purchased 82 tonnes, taking Poland’s gold reserves to more than 632 tonnes.
According to the central bank, the reserves are worth approximately PLN 308 billion.
This has placed Poland among the world’s ten largest official holders of gold. NBP is also implementing the plan announced in January 2026 to increase reserves to 700 tonnes.
The scale of the purchases does not mean that the central bank is attempting to predict short-term movements in gold prices.
From the perspective of an institution managing national reserves, gold primarily serves as a diversification asset. It is not a liability of another country or financial institution and therefore does not carry issuer credit risk.
Nor is this strategy unique to Poland.
In a World Gold Council survey, 89% of reserve managers expected global central bank gold holdings to increase over the next 12 months. A record 45% said they intended to increase the gold reserves of their own institutions.
ETFs sold while physical investors stayed in the market
Investor behaviour differed significantly between market segments in the second quarter.
Gold-backed ETFs recorded outflows equivalent to almost 45 tonnes of metal. The World Gold Council linked this partly to rising expectations for inflation and interest rates in the United States and to a stronger US dollar.
The physical investment market was considerably more stable.
Global demand for gold bars and coins reached 307 tonnes, only 3% lower than a year earlier.
This suggests that some investors viewed the weaker quarter not as a reason to exit the market entirely, but rather as a return to more normal purchasing levels following two exceptionally strong quarters.
Poles are more likely to save than invest
A similar preference for financial security can be seen among Polish households.
The latest Opinia24 survey conducted for Tavex shows that 60% of Poles managed to save money in 2025, while 39% allocated at least some funds to investments.
Investment activity was highest among people aged 40–49, a group that is typically at a more stable stage of its professional and financial life.
Among respondents who said they had invested money – in a multiple-choice question, meaning the results do not add up to 100% – bank deposits ranked first, selected by 33%.
Investment funds were chosen by 20%, listed equities by 17%, while gold and Polish government bonds were each selected by 16%.
Real estate was chosen by 12% and cryptocurrencies by 8%.
The Tavex survey therefore shows that gold ranks among the most frequently selected investment assets, although it has not become a mass-market product.
Poles are gradually becoming not only a nation of savers but increasingly a nation of investors – says Tomasz Gessner, Chief Analyst at Tavex.
NBP data and the consumer survey obviously concern entirely different scales and objectives.
The central bank manages national reserves, while households build financial buffers and private wealth.
In both cases, however, there is a visible search for assets capable of reducing a portfolio’s dependence on a single type of financial instrument.
Gold is not only an investment asset
The gold market extends far beyond purchases by central banks and investors.
Jewellery demand fell to 278 tonnes in the second quarter, the lowest quarterly level since the pandemic.
Despite the 17% decline in volume, consumers spent around $40 billion on gold jewellery, 14% more than a year earlier.
Gold use in the technology sector also increased.
Demand from this segment reached approximately 80 tonnes, up 2% year on year.
Within electronics alone, demand rose by 4%, supported by investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure, semiconductors and data centres.
Individual investors should remember that gold does not pay interest or dividends, its price can undergo sharp corrections, and physical purchases also involve the spread between buying and selling prices as well as the cost of secure storage.
NBP’s purchases primarily demonstrate the major role gold can play in long-term diversification and the renewed importance of its hedging function. They should not be interpreted as a forecast that the gold price will rise in every subsequent quarter – concludes Tomasz Gessner, Chief Analyst at Tavex.
Source: https://ceo.com.pl/nbp-liderem-zakupow-zlota-rezerwy-polski-przekroczyly-632-tony-69833
