Reisebank Gold Study 2024: Germans are increasingly relying on gold as protection against inflation
Mon May 06 2024
German investment assets in gold have grown again - although high prices provide incentives to part with gold. The new gold study by Reisebank and CFin - Research Center for Financial Services at Steinbeis University Berlin shows that it is primarily fears of inflation and the search for real values that are why Germans continue to like to hedge their portfolios with gold. If you were to put all the gold holdings of German private households and the Bundesbank together in a cube, it would have an edge length of just around 8.6 meters. A cube that, however, would currently have a value of around 750 billion euros (gold price as of January 29, 2024, 1,872.91 euros per troy ounce) due to the now significantly increased price of gold. The total gold holdings of Germans have fallen slightly compared to 2021. This reflects the fact that some people in Germany have used the high gold price to sell jewelry or investment gold in order to increase their liquid assets. In contrast, people with high assets in particular have converted parts of their liquid assets or other asset classes into gold as a store of value. The majority of gold in the hands of private individuals is held in the form of gold coins or gold bars. This share has increased by 35 tons to 5,229 tons compared to 2021 (the last survey). This means that Germans have physical investment gold worth 315 billion euros (gold price as of January 29, 2024, 1,872.91 euros per troy ounce). The significant increase in value is due on the one hand to purchases and on the other hand to the high price increase in gold.
Gold bought for more than 4,750 euros
In 2023, 4.4 percent of all respondents said they had bought gold for the first time - an even higher number than in the previous study, which shows that many people have rediscovered the opportunities and potential of protecting value with gold. When people bought gold, they invested an average of 4,764 euros. Given the record prices for gold, one might expect more people to sell gold than buy it. However, the study shows that these figures are balanced. However, the average amount of gold sales is significantly lower than the average amount of gold purchased.
Four out of five gold owners want to keep their gold
Three quarters of those who bought gold say they want to continue to buy it and the number of those who say they want to keep the gold remains at a consistently high level - despite the high gold price. This underlines the function of gold as a value preservation instrument. The main reasons given for investing in gold are protection against inflation, value retention, physical value and aesthetics. The study also shows that over 70 percent of respondents are concerned about high or rising inflation. In view of high inflation rates and massive price increases for gold, satisfaction with the precious metal remains high: 89.9 percent of those who have ever purchased gold are satisfied with their investment.
Source: https://www.reisebank.de/