US Gold Jewelry Demand Up 2% in 2019

London—Gold jewelry demand may have had a good year in the U.S. last year, but it was a different story when looking at its performance globally in 2019.

In the United States, demand was up for the third consecutive year in 2019, rising 2 percent to reach a 10-year high of 131.1 tons, according to the World Gold Council’s most recent Gold Demand Trends report.

The WGC attributed this performance to improved consumer confidence amid a “relatively robust” economic environment.

Demand increased in the fourth quarter as well, up 2 percent to 49.2 tons, marking the twelfth consecutive quarter to see year-over-year growth.

But these positive results weren’t the case for global gold jewelry demand.

According to the WGC, demand in 2019 fell 6 percent overall to 2,107 tons.

The second half was largely affected by the jump in the gold price in the third quarter (prices reached $1,546/ounce in September, according to Kitco), impacting affordability.

Fourth quarter jewelry demand sank to its lowest level since 2011, plummeting 10 percent to 584.5 tons.

The WGC also noted the drop in global volumes last year had much to do with weakness in India and China.

In India, a 17 percent drop in the fourth quarter led to a 24 percent decline for the second half of the year.

Key factors influencing the second-half performance were the higher gold prices, a domestic economic slowdown and “muted” rural demand.

In China, meanwhile, fourth quarter demand sank 10 percent to 159.7 tons.

This also represented the fifth consecutive quarter of decline for the market, causing full-year 2019 demand to slide 7 percent to 637.3 tons.

Subdued demand in both the quarter and the year were attributed to China’s slowing economy, rising inflation, global trade disputes, and higher gold prices.

Another factor was the younger generation’s shifting tastes toward lighter jewelry pieces with fashionable designs; traditional “mass-appeal” 24-karat gold jewelry continued to lose market share to innovative products.

Meanwhile, 2019 gold jewelry demand was down 2 percent in both the Middle East and Europe, and in other Asian markets, excluding China, higher gold prices dented demand across the region to lead to full-year losses.

However, while global demand by volume was down for the full year, demand by value was up.

Consumers spent even more on gold in 2019, with gold jewelry demand increasing 3 percent to a five-year high of $94.3 billion.

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