BEIJING, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Global gold demand has surged 8 percent year on year to 2,181.7 tonnes in the first half of this year, the highest H1 performance in three years, according to a report issued by the World Gold Council Thursday.
In Q2, global gold demand went up 8 percent from a year ago to 1,123 tonnes, which was mainly driven by the increase in the central banks' continuous gold buying and strong gold-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows, said the report.
Net gold purchases by the central banks stood at 224.4 tonnes in Q2 and 374.1 tonnes in H1, the largest net increase in gold reserves held by the central banks on record.
In Q2, holdings of global gold-backed ETF increased by 67.2 tonnes to a six-year high of 2,548 tonnes.
The report said a strong recovery in India's jewelry market helped to boost global Q2 demand for gold jewelry to edge up 2 percent year-on-year to 531.7 tonnes, while demand for gold bars and coins shrank 12 percent to 218.6 tonnes.
Chinese consumers' demand for gold, including gold jewelry, bars and coins, fell by 12 percent from a year earlier to 187.3 tonnes in Q2, according to the report.
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