Total gold demand reached 4,345.1 tonnes, up 4.0 percent on 2017, also on worries about a global economic growth slowdown. "The annual increase was driven by a multi-decade high in central bank buying and accelerated investment in bars and coins during the second half of the year," the WGC said, when US-China trade war tensions and Brexit uncertainty caused volatility across financial markets. The WGC on Thursday said that global bar and coin demand rose 4.0 percent to 1,090 tonnes in 2018. In the UK, bar and coin investment jumped 12 percent to 11.6 tonnes "as investors looked ahead to 29 March 2019 - the day the UK is due to leave the EU - with a sense of trepidation", it said.
Total gold demand reached 4,345.1 tonnes, up 4.0 percent on 2017, also on worries about a global economic growth slowdown. "The annual increase was driven by a multi-decade high in central bank buying and accelerated investment in bars and coins during the second half of the year," the WGC said, when US-China trade war tensions and Brexit uncertainty caused volatility across financial markets. The WGC on Thursday said that global bar and coin demand rose 4.0 percent to 1,090 tonnes in 2018. In the UK, bar and coin investment jumped 12 percent to 11.6 tonnes "as investors looked ahead to 29 March 2019 - the day the UK is due to leave the EU - with a sense of trepidation", it said.