Editor’s Note
U.S. retail investors are increasingly adopting a European-style strategy of buying smaller, fractional gold bars, driving up demand and dealer premiums. However, current production capacity is struggling to meet this surge.
Fractional gold bar demand in the U.S. is currently very strong as the US retail buyer takes a page out of the European individual investor’s playbook. Dealers are consequently willing to pay higher premiums for smaller formats, although production capacity limits fulfillment.
- US gold demand rose 58% y/y to 186t in Q3.
- Robust investment flows into gold-backed ETFs – especially in September – offset weakness in other demand segments.
- North American ETF inflows reached $16bn in Q3. This accounted for 62% of global inflows. Year-to-date cumulative net inflows hit US$37bn through September.
- Trading volumes surged in September and October. US volumes rose 59% m/m in September and another 51% m/m in October to a record US$208bn (1,587t) per day.
- The LBMA (PM) gold price hit multiple new highs. With 13 all-time highs in Q3 and 11 more in October, and the average quarterly price reached a record US$3,456.54/oz, up by 40% y/y and 5% q/q.
Overall gold demand in the US rebounded in the third quarter, in which demand of 186t grew 58% y/y.
Consumer demand (jewellery + bar and coin) of 32t, fell 33% y/y.
Gold jewellery consumption continued the downward trend that started back in Q2’22, falling 12% y/y to 25t. Jewellery spend, in value terms, fell 12% q/q to US$2.7bn, but grew 23% y/y to mark its ninth consecutive y/y increase.
Bar and coin demand witnessed another sharp decline falling 64% y/y to 7t. This marked the weakest demand since the pre-COVID 2017–19 trough, which caused the Americas to be the only major region to post a y/y decline in Q3. Demand by value did not fare much better and fell 49% y/y to US$801mn. However, the figures obscure the true picture: a weak quarter was the result of strong two-way activity as robust buying was met with profit taking.
Technology was mixed across the four major electronics fabrication hubs: the US (-16t, -2% y/y) and Japan (-19t, -4% y/y) declined; while South Korea (+7t, +1% y/y) and Mainland China & Hong Kong (+21t, flat y/y) held steady.
Q3 marked a record quarter for gold-backed ETFs, with global inflows of US$26bn and total holdings rising by 222t to 3,838t. Particularly striking was the US contribution, which accounted for 137t (US$16bn), or 62% of global demand.
Year-to-date cumulative net inflows for North American gold-backed ETFs reached US$37bn through September – 99% of which came from US based funds – putting them on pace for their strongest annual performance on record, with preliminary October data confirming this milestone.
In tonnage terms, demand has also been robust, with North American funds on track for their third-strongest year on record.
*As of 30 September 2025. The funds shown above were selected based on the top four funds with the highest inflows year-to-date.
In light of the strong ETF demand in the quarter, we took a closer look at trading volumes of gold products in the US compared to the rest of the world.
In Q3 average daily trading volumes of COMEX futures and options reached US$104bn (915t), up 35% y/y, while North American ETFs (dominated by US funds) averaged US$5bn (42t) per day, up 109% y/y. Together they accounted for 33% of global market liquidity.
Although US volumes eased q/q, this was mainly due to subdued activity in July and August as gold prices moved sideways. Momentum returned in September, when gold began to rally and recorded 13 new all-time highs, driving US trading volumes to a record US$138bn (1,152t) per day, a 59% m/m increase.