In 2022, central banks will accumulate 1,136 tons of gold worth about $70 billion – a record amount since 1967, Reuters writes, citing data from the World Gold Council (WGC).

There has been a noticeable change in attitudes toward gold since the 1990s and 2000s, when central banks, especially in Western European countries holding large amounts of bullion, began selling hundreds of tons of gold a year.

After the 2008-2009 financial crisis, European banks stopped selling and more emerging economies such as Russia, Turkey and India started buying gold.

The reasons why central banks favor gold are its ability to serve as a safe haven in turbulent times when, unlike currencies and bonds, its value is not dependent on any issuer or government.

Gold also allows central banks to diversify away from assets such as U.S. Treasuries and the dollar. Buying is especially strong at times when there is a lot of uncertainty and volatility on the geopolitical and macroeconomic fronts. Gold purchases declined during the pandemic but accelerated in the second half of 2022, when central banks bought 862 tons between July and December.

Banks in Turkey, China, Egypt and Qatar, said they bought gold in 2022. But there are some banks that do not regularly publish information about changes in their gold holdings, such as the central banks of China and Russia.