Demand for gold bars and coins in Egypt more than tripledy-o-y in 2Q 2023 as savers searched safe havens amid the ongoing currency crisis. Figures included in a World Gold Council report out yesterday show that Egyptians bought 10.4 tons of gold during the three-month period, up from 3.3 tons in the same time in 2022.

Record volumes: This is the largest quantity of gold bought in Egypt going back to at least 2010, when the WGC started tracking the gold market. It also accounts for a third of the demand across the entire Middle East region. Some 18.6 tons of gold bars and coins were bought in Egypt in the first six months of the year, almost the same amount as bought in the whole of 2022.

In search of safety: Egyptians have turned to gold to protect their savings in response to the currency crisis and soaring inflation rate sparked by the war in Ukraine and tightening financial conditions globally. The country is facing its worst hard currency shortage in years, fuelling a re-emergence of a parallel market, while a run of three devaluations since March 2022 has almost halved the EGP’s value against the USD.

This has triggered a gold-buying frenzy: Egyptians have bought 37.8 tons of gold since the beginning of 2022 alone. This is almost the same amount that was bought over the preceding 11 years.

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