Singapore, LOGIC.co.id – Sales of gold bars and physical coins in Singapore surged sharply during the first four months of 2025. Public interest in the precious metal rose rapidly amid increasing global economic uncertainty.
According to a report by Channel News Asia (CNA) on Sunday, May 11, 2025, Singaporeans purchased around 2.5 tons of gold bars in the first quarter of this year. This figure marks a 35 percent increase compared to the same period last year and represents the highest annual growth since 2010.
Despite a significant jump in global gold prices, from exceeding US$3,000 per troy ounce (around IDR 49.5 million) in March to reaching US$3,500 (IDR 57.8 million) in less than two months, consumer demand remained strong. Gold sales continued to show an upward trend.
Analysts believe that the spike in gold demand was driven by investors seeking to protect their assets from global economic turmoil. Gold, known as a safe-haven asset, has once again become a primary choice.
Gregor Gregersen, founder of The Reserve, a large-scale gold and silver storage facility located in the Changi area, stated that many high-net-worth individuals are turning to physical gold as a form of asset protection.
“Some clients have purchased between SG$60 million and SG$70 million worth of gold. They want to hold the physical form of the asset as a safeguard against unpredictable market risks,” Gregersen said.
He added that these wealthy investors prefer holding physical gold over paper-based assets in order to reduce financial exposure.
Meanwhile, Shaokai Fan, Head of Asia-Pacific and Central Banks at the World Gold Council, explained that gold has proven to be a resilient asset during times of instability. Apart from its crisis-resistant nature, gold is also considered highly liquid.
“Although the price is high, investors still turn to gold due to its liquidity and growing concerns over the future of traditional safe-haven assets such as the US dollar and US government bonds,” he said.
Fan also noted increasing worries about the stability of the US dollar and US treasury securities. This has led many investors to diversify their portfolios into more stable instruments such as gold.
However, not all forms of gold experienced increased demand. In the jewelry sector, demand actually declined by up to 20 percent in the first quarter of this year. The drop is largely due to high gold prices and additional costs such as production fees and Goods and Services Tax (GST), which apply to jewelry but not to investment-grade gold bars.
Analysts expect the trend of rising physical gold demand to continue in the medium to long term as global uncertainty continues to weigh on the markets.