Kuwaitis are among world’s largest ‘consumers’ of gold

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KUWAIT CITY, July 5: A list published by the “Insider Monkey” website showed that Kuwait is among the 20 most gold-consuming countries in the world, and ranked 19th in the world and fourth among the four largest Arab countries in the world’s gold acquisition, reports Al-Rai daily. The site mentioned that Kuwait’s annual consumption of gold is 16.16 metric tons, mostly due to the country’s attraction to gold jewelry, explaining that this figure becomes more clear when looking at it on a per capita basis, as the per capita consumption of gold in the country is 3.8 grams.

It is one of the highest rates in the world. According to the data published by the site, quoting the World Gold Council, it is very clear that Kuwaitis have been keen on acquiring gold in the past three years, as the average gold consumption in Kuwait reached 18.9 metric tons in 2022, compared to 16.6 metric tons in 2021, and 13 metric tons in 2020.

Gold consumption
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia ranked first in the Arab countries and fourth in the world in average annual gold consumption with 220 metric tons, followed by the UAE ranked 13th in the world with an average consumption of 39.8 metric tons, then Egypt ranked third in the Arab world and 16th globally with an average consumption of 31.8 metric tons.

The site pointed out that it ranks the 20 most consuming countries for gold in the world based on the volume of its annual demand for gold, and its report covers gold demand trends for the entire year 2022 issued by the World Gold Council, as countries’ demand for gold was used as an alternative to their consumption of gold given the reliable data on the use of gold. Gold in each country was limited, and the site also touched on per capita gold consumption in some countries to put average demand into perspective. However, per capita figures may vary slightly depending on when they were calculated and the population of the country the source is using.

Largest consumers
On the other hand, the countries with the highest annual gold consumption have shown stability in the past decade. According to the data of the Gold Council, China and India were the largest consumers of gold in 2010, and the two countries maintained this situation in 2022 by consuming 824.9 and 774 metric tons, respectively. After China and India, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Turkey and Iran ranked from 3 to 7, respectively.

The global demand for gold reached 3,303 metric tons in 2022, which represents a post-pandemic recovery for countries with the highest annual gold consumption. In 2020, the total consumption of gold in the world decreased to 2,301 metric tons, which is the lowest level since 2010, due to the suspension of the economic activity cycle in most countries. It should be noted that the largest single buyer of gold are central banks in the world’s leading economies, such as the US Federal Reserve, the People’s Bank of China, and the Reserve Bank of India, to offset fiscal risks and enhance economic stability. According to the World Gold Council, net purchases by central banks amounted to 1,136 metric tons in 2022, with an estimated value of $70 billion.

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