SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China’s gold consumption fell 5.96% year-on-year to 290.492 tons in the first quarter of 2025 as high gold prices continued to curb demand for gold jewellery, the China Gold Association said on Monday.
The rise in gold prices has led to a shift in consumer behaviour, with traditional gold products such as gold ornaments and jewellery giving way to gold bars and coins as a means of investment.
Gold jewellery consumption slumped 26.85% year-on-year to 134.531 tons during the first quarter, while consumption for gold bars and coins surged 29.81% to 138.018 tons, driven by investors seeking safe-haven assets amid geopolitical uncertainty and economic volatility.
China’s domestic gold production rose 1.49% year-on-year to 87.243 tons in the first quarter of 2025.
Including gold produced from imported materials, which totalled 53.587 tons, China’s total gold output reached 140.830 tons in the first quarter, up 1.18% from a year earlier.
(Reporting by Violet Li and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Janane Venkatraman and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
