World Gold Council: Gold Price Annualized Return Around 5%, Long-Term Trend Supported by Wealth Storage Demand

The World Gold Council has released the "2026 China Gold Jewelry Retail Trend Insights," indicating that the Chinese gold jewelry market is experiencing a trend of "rising prices and declining volumes." In the first half of 2026, gold jewelry consumption fell by 30% year-on-year to 136 tons, while total consumption value increased by 5% to 143.7 billion yuan. The Council's CEO, Wang Lixin, stated that there is significant potential for hard gold, which remains the mainstream in the market. The report analyzes the future trends of gold investment, which are influenced by the policies of the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury in the short term, supported by central bank gold purchases in the medium term, and reliant on consumption and wealth storage demand driven by economic growth in the long term. Historical data shows that the long-term average annual return rate of gold remains stable at around 5%.