COMMODITY
India's gold demand fell 6% in April-June quarter of 2026 on weak demand, higher duty: WGC
Jul-30-2026

The World Gold Council in its latest report 'Q2 2026 Gold Demand Trends' has said that India's gold demand fell 6% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to 131.4 tonnes in the April-June quarter of 2026 from 139.7 tonnes during the corresponding period last year, weighed down by seasonally subdued sales, higher Customs duty and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to reduce purchases of the precious metal. WGC Regional CEO, India, Sachin Jain said 'however it’s been a record in terms of the value of demand. So, consumption was Rs 1,98,100 crore, compared with Rs 1,32,500 crore in the same period in 2025, which is up by 50%, highlighting that consumers continue to prioritise gold even in a high-price environment'. 

Going forward, for the year, WGC estimated the demand to stay between 650 and 750 tonnes. Moreover, total Jewellery demand in India during the quarter under review decreased by 15% to 75.1 tonnes as compared to 88.8 tonnes in the same period last year. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi, in May, 2026, urged people to reduce non-essential gold purchases and explore other ways to save foreign exchange reserves amid mounting import bills of the country due to volatile crude oil prices. 

Jain expressed concern about a rise in grey marketing after the duty hike, noting reports of illicit gold already making its way into these markets. He added 'We think smuggling and illicit gold making way into the market is the biggest risk to the industry, and we are already getting reports on this. We will be tracking this in the coming quarters'. Meanwhile, investment demand remained encouraging, with bar and coin demand growing 9% Y-o-Y to 50.3 tonnes, while Indian Gold ETFs attracted 4.2 tonnes of net inflows despite global outflows.

The WGC data showed that total gold recycled in India in the April-June quarter declined by 17% to 19.2 tonnes, compared to 23.1 tonnes in the same period last year. Total gold imports in India in the s April-June quarter of 2026 were 98.1 tonnes, down by 23% compared to 127.4 tonnes recorded in the corresponding period of 2025. The average gold price in the April-June quarter of 2026 was $4,506.3 an ounce in comparison to $3,280.4 in the corresponding period of 2025. In India, the average quarterly price of gold during April-June was Rs 1,50,744.8 (without import duty and GST) in comparison to Rs 94,875.9 in the same period last year.

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