Central banks stockpiled gold last year at the fastest pace since 1955, driving demand for the metal to 4,741 tons, its highest since 2011 during the Great Recession, the World Gold Council said in a new report.

Banks did much of their buying during the second half of the year after the U.S. froze Russian dollar-denominated assets after Russia invaded Ukraine.

The banks bought 417 tons in 2022’s final quarter, 12 times more than the same month in 2021, when the year’s total was 1,136 tons.

Individuals also stashed their asset values in gold as a hedge against relentless inflation.

Only about 25 percent of central banks’ gold purchases were reported to the International Monetary Fund. The largest purchases that were reported were almost 400 tons by Turkey and 62 tons by China. Middle East nations also were heavy buyers and national wealth funds also boosted their holdings.

Individual buyers took in 1,200 tons last year, the most since 2013. Demand was strongest in Europe, the Middle East, and Turkey but weak in China as its economy slowed under rolling anti-COVID lockdowns.

TREND FORECAST: We remain bullish on gold. When the U.S. Federal Reserve stops raising interest rates and the U.S. dollar declines, gold prices will sharply rise. Indeed, the central banksters are buying gold because they know the inside story of how treacherous the artificially propped-up economies will be affected when the equity market bubble pops.

Also, there is not one mention in the mainstream business media that the higher the central banks raise interest rates, the more governments and businesses will have to pay on their huge debt load… which will become unsustainable.