In October, Uzbekistan became the world's largest seller of gold, World Gold Council reports.

Net purchases of gold by central banks in October amounted to 42 tons, which signals a slowdown in the trend towards the acquisition of the precious metal. Purchases decreased by 41% compared to September, but this is still above the average for January-September 2023.

The main buyer of the precious metal was China, which purchased 23 tons. Türkiye is in second place with 19 tons, followed by Poland (3 tons), India (3 tons), Czech Republic (2 tons), Kyrgyzstan and Qatar (1 ton each).

Uzbekistan sold 11 tons of gold in October. This is five times more than Kazakhstan, which is next behind.

According to the Statistics Agency, in October Uzbekistan sold gold worth $1.24 billion, over the previous ten months - $6.87 billion, increasing year-on-year by 2.3 times.