By region, North America was the hardest hit, and the strong inflow momentum in Asia in April was also reversed. Gold ETFs in Europe saw a moderate inflow, while funds in “other regions” experienced their first small outflow in six months.

The latest data from the World Gold Council shows that in May, gold ETFs in North America saw an outflow of approximately 1.5 billion US dollars, marking the first negative demand since January this year.

Gold ETFs in the European region saw a slight inflow of approximately 225 million US dollars, with inflows from French market funds offsetting the continuous outflows from German and British market funds.

Gold ETFs in the Asian region saw an outflow of approximately 489 million US dollars, marking the first monthly net outflow since November 2024. Among them, the outflow of funds from the Chinese market led the way, as domestic demand for gold as a safe-haven asset weakened significantly with the easing of trade tensions between China and the United States and the rebound of the stock market. It is worth noting that although gold ETFs in the Japanese market only saw a small inflow in May, they have maintained positive demand for eight consecutive months.

The “Other Regions” fund saw a slight outflow of approximately 27 million US dollars, ending the inflow trend that had lasted for five consecutive months. The outflow mainly originated from the markets of Australia and South Africa.

However, the World Gold Council also pointed out that despite a net outflow in May, global gold ETFs have maintained a net inflow of approximately 30 billion US dollars since 2025, with a cumulative increase of 322 tons in total holdings during this period.