More GCC Buyers Are Choosing Gold Bars Over Jewellery in 2026
Global bar and coin demand hit 474 tonnes in Q1 2026 — up 42% year on year — as GCC buyers shift from jewellery to bullion. Record gold prices have made making charges and VAT too costly to ignore. More Gulf residents are choosing bars for pure gold expos
Something fundamental is shifting in how GCC residents buy gold. The shift is visible in the data, confirmed by the world's leading gold research body, and playing out in real time across souqs and bullion dealers from Dubai to Riyadh.
More buyers are choosing bars and coins over jewellery — and the numbers behind that choice are more compelling than most people realise.
What the World Gold Council Data Shows
The World Gold Council's Q1 2026 Gold Demand Trends report — the most comprehensive quarterly gold demand dataset available globally — reveals a striking divergence between investment and jewellery demand.
Global bar and coin demand reached 474 tonnes in Q1 2026, up 42% year on year — the second highest quarter on record. At the same time, global jewellery demand volumes fell 23% year on year to 335 tonnes, as record-high gold prices priced out volume buyers across all major markets.
The GCC sits at the centre of this divergence. Middle Eastern markets saw most countries record year-on-year growth in bar and coin demand during Q1 2026. Simultaneously, Middle Eastern jewellery demand saw universal double-digit year-on-year volume declines. However — and this is the critical nuance — the value of Middle Eastern jewellery demand jumped 30% year on year to a record US$5 billion. Buyers are spending more on less gold. The pieces are smaller, the purchases more deliberate, and the making charge calculation more carefully considered.
Andrew Naylor, Head of Middle East and Public Policy at the World Gold Council, confirmed the pattern directly: "The remarkable gold price rise in 2025 inevitably imposed affordability constraints on jewellery consumers in the GCC. It did not, however, stifle consumer appetite for jewellery — consumers spent a larger share of wallet on gold, even if in smaller volumes." The shift, he notes, is visible in format — more buyers directing purchases toward bars and coins rather than jewellery.
Why Bars Are Winning at These Price Levels
The logic is straightforward once the numbers are laid out.
When a buyer in Dubai purchases a 22K gold necklace today, they pay the gold rate plus a making charge of AED 3–25 per gram depending on the design, plus 5% VAT on the total. When that piece is sold back, only the gold content value is recovered — the making charge is gone permanently.
A 24K gold bar carries no making charge and no VAT in the UAE for investment-grade bullion above 99% purity. The buyer pays close to spot price and receives close to spot price on sale. At current UAE prices near AED 535–540 per gram for 24K gold, that making charge difference on a 50-gram purchase represents AED 150 to AED 1,250 — real money at any purchase size.
In 2025, global bar and coin buying accelerated to a 12-year high as record prices pushed more buyers from jewellery into investment formats. The trend has continued into 2026. Bar and coin demand of 474 tonnes in Q1 2026 trails only one other quarter in recorded history.
The GCC Investor Profile Is Changing
The profile of the GCC gold buyer shifting toward bars is not the institutional investor or the high-net-worth individual. It is the everyday resident making a considered financial decision.
Fast Company Middle East's analysis of GCC gold market trends noted the shift explicitly: "In the GCC, that shift is visible in the format." The cultural attachment to gold as wealth preservation remains entirely intact — what is changing is the vehicle through which that wealth is held.
Smaller gram weights are the fastest-growing segment. One to ten gram bars have become the entry point of choice for UAE and Saudi residents accumulating gold systematically rather than occasion-driven. The liquidity is better, the sell-back simpler, and the cost of ownership lower than jewellery at any gold price level — but especially at $4,800+ per ounce.
The World Gold Council's outlook for the remainder of 2026 supports continued strength in bar and coin demand, driven by geopolitical risk, inflation concerns, and sustained central bank buying. Jewellery spending is expected to remain resilient in value terms even as volume pressure continues.
For GCC residents tracking when to add a bar to their holdings, the decision starts with one number: today's live 24K gold price in their local currency. GoldSilverRateLive.com provides real-time gold prices in AED, SAR, QAR, KWD, OMR, and BHD across all karat purities — updated continuously throughout the trading day.
Live GCC gold prices: https://goldsilverratelive.com UAE gold rate today: https://goldsilverratelive.com/gold-price/uae Saudi Arabia gold rate: https://goldsilverratelive.com/gold-price/saudi-arabia Gold Purity Converter: https://goldsilverratelive.com/gold-purity-converter/
Data sourced from World Gold Council Gold Demand Trends Q1 2026 report, World Gold Council Full Year 2025 report, and Fast Company Middle East GCC gold market analysis. All GCC gold prices are approximate retail market rates as of May 2026. This release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.