According to the World Gold Council, total gold consumption across the world rose by 3% from 2022 with 4,899 tonnes of gold being scooped up by various countries, a fresh gold demand record.  And not only that, but the World Gold Council is expecting that number to continue to grow in 2024 due to growing economic uncertainty and increased central bank purchasing.  Remember, the last time central banks purchased this much gold was in 2010, and then gold made a then high in 2011 and began to pull back.  This is when central banks started selling from their gold reserves.  Interesting timing.  They buy until it tops out, and then become sellers.  What does that tell you now that they (central banks) have been setting new gold buying records each year since 2020?  As many are predicting, we too believe new highs well above the current price point are going to be achieved as a result.

The problem is that citizens often wait far too long, and begin purchasing at highs due to behavioural psychology triggering something in them making people not want to miss out when they see green prices; today known as FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).  This was strongly represented during the 2008 Great Financial Crisis.  During that time, gold rallied from $833.30 USD/oz on Dec 31^st, 2007, all the way to $1714.20 USD/oz by October of 2011, a 105.71% increase in price over almost 3 years in response to the crash that almost wiped out the word financial system.  That said, until 2023, 2011 remained as the highest OTC (Over-The-Counter) market demand year.  What that means, is that 2011 had record demand from citizens buying over the counter at various gold shops.  2011 also represented a top at the time in the price of gold.  As central banks began to sell for profit, citizens were told to purchase and were sucked into a near term loss as many uneducated gold buyers sold after prices slid until around 2015.  However, to our delight, it appears that citizens of the world are beginning to learn from past mistakes as 2023 marked the highest ever demand for OTC gold, increasing by a whopping 753% from 2022.  It seems citizens are waking up to the financial storm approaching and are buying gold, and QUICK.

Looking toward the East, China is leading this trend as demand for investment grade gold coins and bars increased within China by 28% to 280 tonnes of gold in 2023, while consumption of gold jewellery also rose by 10% to 630 tonnes.  What is interesting is outside of BRICS and other Eastern countries, it is being reported that gold demand remained almost flat.  It appears that demand is coming largely from countries outside of Europe and the West, further highlighting that many European and Western citizens are drunk on cheap currency and debt, while Eastern citizens, especially BRICS+ citizens understand that in times of crisis, it is gold that is always recognized for its store of value.

Further to the point of citizens of the East seeming to understand true value far better than those native to Europe and the West, it appears this is true for government as well.  It was reported this week in a shocking revelation that BRICS+ has officially passed the powerhouse G7 nation group in terms of collective GDP in PPP terms (purchasing power parity), which simply adds a measure of economic productivity and the standard of living by checking differences in the cost of goods and services.  That said, BRICS+ expanded their GDP to 35% of world production, where as the G7’s global dominance has continued to slide as their share of GDP went from 50.42% in 1982 all the way to 30.39% in 2022, with an expectation it will be reported near 29.44% in 2023.  It is clear as BRICS+ nations focus on real wealth in the form of tangible commodities the people of the world actually NEED to survive, they as a group have ripped passed the productivity of G7 nations focused solely on burying themselves in fake wealth and debt.

It is also important to remember that the USD holds so much power due to the Petrodollar deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia we broke down in a past newsletter.  Well, with Saudi Arabia joining BRICS, their allegiance will surely change, and with their addition BRICS+ now controls a staggering 47% of all world oil, while the United States controls just over 2%.  Due to this, many believe the USD reign of dominance is coming to an abrupt end.  If it were up to Iran, it would already be done as their BRICS spokesperson came out to champion the idea of a common digital currency backed by gold to separate from the USD.  Which, while this has been spoke about before, it came at an interesting time as Iran made these statements just a short time after the UAE completed its first ever cross-border payment using the Digital Dirham sending nearly $14,000,000 USD equivalent to China on Monday of this week.  Highlighting not only the very real possibility of Central Bank Digital Currencies becoming a reality, but also emphasizing the importance of physical silver and gold to ensure some of your wealth is kept outside the coming system that will likely have increased surveillance as advanced financial tech often does.

It is becoming more and more clear each week that we put these newsletters together that Eastern countries + BRICS are focused heavily on getting out of this debt based system to focus on true prosperity and true wealth.  While, European and Western countries appear to be so drunk on debt they will seemingly do anything at the detriment of their citizens to keep the fiat debt system going.

If you want to ensure that you and your family’s wealth is well protected when the curtain finally closes on the debt based fiat paper currency system, Au Bullion will always be here to help you achieve that goal for as low a premium as possible.  Below you will again find the link to our Random Year Canadian Silver Maple Blowout Sale where you can get high-quality silver for as cheap as you’ll find it on the market.

Random Year 1 Oz Silver Canadian Maples (BLOWOUT SALE)