China once again largest gold market in the world

China was once again the world's largest market for physical gold in 2014, according to the latest Gold Survey 2015 from research firm Thomson Reuters GFMS. The 116-page report released this week covers almost all relevant figures about the gold market, including an overview of countries where the most gold was purchased.

Thomson Reuters' GFMSA finding is striking, as the World Gold Council released a report in February in which India topped the list of countries where the demand for gold was highest. We don't know exactly what that difference is, and the difference between the two is only slightly in favor of China.

According to the GFMS, China was the largest buyer of the yellow metal for the third year in a row, with a total demand of 895 tonnes (excluding trading activities of banks). India – which was by far the largest market for gold before 2012 – has to settle for second place again in 2014 with a demand of 852 tonnes.

China was the largest buyer of gold for the third year in a row (Source: GFMS Gold Survey 2015)

China and India continue to dominate gold markets

In the bigger picture, China and India are by far the biggest customers for physical gold. With a market share of 24.2 and 23.1 percent respectively in 2014, they accounted for almost half of all gold produced in the form of jewelry, Gold Coins, bars, industrial gold and other forms of investment gold.

Chinese people bought significantly less gold jewellery in 2014 than in 2013, but the total was still larger than in 2012. This makes the past year the second best year for Chinese jewellers. In India, demand for jewellery rose to a record level last year due to an easing of import restrictions. Another factor was the relatively strong rupee, which barely made the precious metal more expensive. Indian consumers are very price-conscious and carefully choose the moment when they want to Buy gold.

The top 20 countries where the most gold was bought in 2014