Iran had the world’s fifth-largest demand for gold in the first three quarters of this year amid a surge in imports to diversify the country’s central bank reserves.
Figures from the World Gold Council cited in a Saturday report by Tasnim news agency showed that Iran’s gold demand reached 58 metric tons in January-September 2025.
The figures showed that Iran ranked fifth among the world’s top gold-demand countries, following China, India, the United States, and Turkey, in the first three quarters of this year.
The rise in gold demand in Iran comes amid increased imports of the metal as the government has sought to use gold reserves to mitigate restrictions on its access to hard currencies.
Iran imported around 100 metric tons of gold worth $8 billion in the calendar year to late March, according to the country’s customs figures.
The Central Bank of Iran also said in April that it had converted about 20% of its reserves into gold, supported by last year’s surge in gold imports.
Iran cut its tariffs on gold imports to zero in November 2022 to boost its gold reserves and to facilitate the return of funds held in other countries because of US sanctions.
However, the country said in October that it had returned some of its curbs on gold imports after it became clear that certain exporters were shipping gold out of Iran and then re-importing it to sell on the domestic market, benefiting from the gap between official and free-market exchange rates.