Kuwaitis and expatriates purchased 11.2 tons of gold in 9 months

Ahmed Maghrabi

The gold market in Kuwait has witnessed a notable shift in demand structure during the first nine months of 2026, with growing interest in gold bars and coins, which recorded annual growth of 13.1%, pushing their purchases to 5.5 tons, up from 4.8 tons during the same period in 2025, an increase of 632 kilograms, according to the latest data from the World Gold Council.

Detailed data from the World Gold Council’s Q3 2026 Gold Demand Trends report showed that total gold purchases in Kuwait, including jewelry, bars, and coins, reached 11.2 tons during the first nine months of this year, compared to approximately 12.385 tons during the corresponding period last year, a decline of 9.51%, driven by a contraction in demand for jewelry and gold ornaments.

Bars Boost Market Share

The figures revealed that the relative share of gold bars and coins in total domestic demand rose to 48.69% during the first nine months of 2026, compared to 38.95% during the same period last year, an increase of 9.73 percentage points, indicating a widening relative weight of investment-grade gold products within Kuwaiti market purchases. Consequently, gold bars and coins now account for nearly half of total domestic gold demand, while jewelry’s share stands at 51.31%, down from 61.05% during the corresponding period in 2025.

On a quarterly basis, demand for gold bars and coins grew by 27.25% in Q1 2026, reaching 1.8 tons, compared to approximately 1.4 tons in the same quarter of 2025. Growth continued in Q2, with purchases rising by 25% to 2.4 tons, up from 1.9 tons in the corresponding period last year, marking the highest quarterly demand for bars and coins during the first three quarters of 2026. Q2 alone accounted for 43.75% of total bar and coin purchases during the first nine months, while total demand for gold across both categories in that quarter reached 4.566 tons, compared to 3.618 tons in Q1 and 3.024 tons in Q3.

Q3, however, saw a 15% year-on-year decline in demand for gold bars and coins, falling to 1.3 tons from approximately 1.5 tons during the same period in 2025, although total purchases of these products over the first nine months maintained positive annual growth.

In the jewelry and gold ornaments market, total demand during the first nine months of 2026 reached approximately 5.8 tons, down from 7.6 tons during the same period in 2025, a decline of 23.93%, representing a difference of nearly 1.8 tons. Purchases were distributed as 1.8 tons in Q1, 2.2 tons in Q2, and 1.7 tons in Q3, which recorded a year-on-year decline of 28.67%, compared to declines of 24.64% in Q1 and 19.00% in Q2.

Despite the decline in purchased volumes, jewelry maintained its position as the largest category of total domestic demand during the period, accounting for 51.31%. A shift in the domestic demand landscape is evident when comparing 2025 and 2026, as the drop in jewelry demand by 1.809 tons was offset by a growth in bullion and coin purchases of approximately 0.632 tons, partially compensating for the overall decline in total volumes. These developments follow a full-year 2025 total demand for jewelry, bullion, and coins of 17.09 tons, distributed between 10.39 tons of jewelry and 6.70 tons of gold bullion and coins, according to the World Gold Council’s annual tables. The data indicate that the key features of the Kuwaiti market in 2026 included an increased relative share for investment gold products, alongside jewelry continuing to hold the largest share of total purchases, reflecting a redistribution of demand between the two categories compared to the same period in the previous year.