The value of the Irish Central Bank’s reserves in gold has increased by almost 50% in the last two years to €971m amidst record highs for the precious metal in recent days.
New figures provided by the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe show that the Central Bank’s 12 tonnes of gold increased in value from €660m at the end of 2022 to €971m at the end of 2024 – a rise of 47% across the two years.
The price of gold has reached record levels this week trading for more than $3,000 per troy ounce and has increased 15% since the start of the year resulting in the Central Bank’s holding increasing by a further estimated €145m in 2025.
This follows the price of gold – which provides no income for its owner – increasing by 34% in 2024.
The Central Bank in 2021 doubled its gold holding from 6 tonnes to 12 tonnes and has not purchased any gold since then.
The spend by the Central Bank on gold followed a decade of stabilisation concerning Central Bank gold reserves where figures provided by Minister Donohoe show that Central Bank gold reserves remained unchanged at six tonnes from 2011 to 2021.
In a written Dail reply to Ged Nash (Labour), Minister Donohoe stated: “The Central Bank increased its holdings of physical gold during 2021 and early 2022 as part of the diversified longer-term investment strategy for the discretionary investment assets, aimed at improving balance sheet resilience.”
He said that “the Central Bank’s gold bars are held in custody at the Banque de France and at the Bank of England. The annual costs of these gold custody fees are minimal”.
Minister Donohoe said that “gold is one of a number of asset classes held by the Bank as part of its investment asset holdings, the full range of which is published in its annual report.
The value of the Central Bank’s gold holding at €971m at the end of 2024 compared to €722m at the end of 2023 – a rise of 34%.
The end of 2024 value of the Central Bank’s 12 tonnes €971m is a multiple of the value of the €191m gold reserves of six tonnes at the end of 2014.
Gold broke through the key $3,000 barrier per troy ounce last Friday for the first time as investors piled on to a historic rally in the safe-haven asset amid political and economic volatility triggered by the new US administration.
The record-breaking year for gold has coincided with nervous investors seeking out safe-haven assets.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
