China and India have played significant roles in maintaining positive net investments in physically-backed gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs), despite 68 percent of investors having exited as of April 17, according to data from the World Gold Council (WGC).
China led the way in gold ETF investments, contributing $9.04 billion, followed by India with $3.26 billion. Japan ranked sixth among net investors, adding $1.26 billion to the total.
For the week concluding on April 17, global inflows into gold ETFs reached $63.96 billion, while outflows totaled $43.73 billion, resulting in net investments of $20.23 billion. In Asia, net inflows were $14.87 billion, contrasted with $2.06 billion in North America and $2.94 billion in Europe.
Continuing a trend, investments in gold ETFs increased for the second consecutive week as of April 17. After experiencing negative net inflows in March amid concerns over inflation related to the Iran war and a strengthening dollar, along with a shift of funds from gold to crude oil, the market has shown resilience. Despite this trend, Asian investors withdrew funds from gold ETFs, resulting in negative inflows of $1.5 million, while North American and European investors contributed positively, with inflows of $2.12 billion and $0.96 billion, respectively.
Breaking these figures down by country, U.S. investors accounted for $2.17 billion in inflows during the week ending April 17. The UK saw investments of $0.61 billion, Switzerland added $0.22 billion, while Germany and France reported $0.069 billion and $0.053 billion, respectively. In China, net investments were a mere negative $0.01 billion.
In terms of pricing, gold has seen a decline of over 15 percent from its peak of $5,608 an ounce on January 29. Since reaching that record high, the price of gold has fluctuated around the $4,700 mark. Currently, gold is trading at $4,712 an ounce in the spot market, while June futures on COMEX are priced at $4,729.51 an ounce. Year-to-date, gold has recorded a nine percent increase.
Published on April 23, 2026.
