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Julie Zhang

Sussi Ye began buying gold bars in small batches at the start of the year, slowly building a hoard now worth about 200,000 yuan (US$29,700). Despite the metal’s price swings since then, she has not sold a single gram.
“I prefer investing in physical gold instead of gold-linked financial products,” said the 32-year-old resident of Hangzhou, capital of eastern China’s Zhejiang province.
“I like that it’s tangible, you can hold it, and that gives you a sense of security. If I get married someday, I can still have these gold bars crafted into wedding jewellery.”
Ye’s instinct reflects a broader shift in global gold markets.
Demand for physical gold among Gen Z was rising, as geopolitical tensions and market uncertainties fuelled interest in owning gold outright rather than through paper-based products, according to the London-based dealer IBV Gold London.
“Younger investors have experienced a lot of uncertainty – inflation, geopolitical tensions, volatile markets and concerns about the strength of currencies and the wider economy,” said Yuvana Singh, manager at IBV Gold London.
“Because of that, they are thinking more seriously about diversification at a relatively young age and turning to gold.”
IBV Gold London, which serves clients ranging from family offices to institutional investors, said nearly a third of its inquiries over the past year came from buyers aged between 18 and 28.
Gold was no longer seen purely as an investment for older or wealthy investors, Singh said.
“It is becoming much more mainstream among younger people,” she said, adding that she was seeing more first-time buyers who had never owned gold before.
[Gen Z investors are] looking for something tangible … rather than simply having exposure to its price
Yuvana Singh, IBV Gold London
Ownership of gold jewellery among consumers aged 18 to 24 had surged to 62 per cent from 37 per cent five years ago, according to a World Gold Council survey of more than 3,000 Chinese consumers last year.
Demand for gold bars and coins reached 474 tonnes in the first quarter, up 42 per cent year on year and the second-highest quarterly total on record, led by Asian buyers, according to the council.
Gen Z investors “are looking for something tangible … rather than simply having exposure to its price”, Singh said. Investors often worried that “if you later decide that you actually want physical gold, the process of converting that investment into bars or coins isn’t necessarily straightforward”, she added.
Depending on the paper gold product, “there can be redemption requirements, fees, minimum amounts, or simply no option for the individual investor to take delivery of the underlying gold”, Singh said.
Paper gold refers to financial products such as exchange-traded funds, futures and options that mirror gold’s price movements but do not grant investors physical possession of the metal.
IBV Gold London operates a single vault in the UK capital’s Mayfair district, serving clients worldwide in storing their bullion and coins. About 20 per cent of its customer base comes from Asia, including mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore.
BullionVault, the world’s largest online physical precious metals service for private investors, said its first-time users aged 16 to 27 hit a record in 2025 and matched that full-year total in just the first half of 2026. It serves more than 130,000 customers globally.
Spot gold was trading at about US$4,425 an ounce as of Thursday, about 21 per cent below January’s record intraday high of US$5,602.
Deutsche Bank expected gold to reach US$4,700 per ounce by the end of the year, while Morgan Stanley predicted prices would rise to US$5,000 by 2027.


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Gen Z buyers are driving demand for bullion, spurred by geopolitical tensions, inflation and the appeal of owning gold outright


Gen Z buyers are driving demand for bullion, spurred by geopolitical tensions, inflation and the appeal of owning gold outright.


Amid global risks, younger investors favour tangible bars as paper gold loses shine

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Gen Z buyers are driving demand for bullion, spurred by geopolitical tensions, inflation and the appeal of owning gold outright

Gen Z buyers are driving demand for bullion, spurred by geopolitical tensions, inflation and the appeal of owning gold outright