New Delhi. The continuous rise in gold prices has kept common buyers away from the market. The result was that the demand for gold jewelery in India fell by 31% in the quarter from July to September 2025. According to the latest report of the World Gold Council (WGC), demand in the September quarter was the lowest after 2020. The biggest impact was on the gems and jewelery market of Gujarat, where a record decline in imports was seen. New air cargo data shows that gold imports into Gujarat declined by 85% in July and August. While the demand for jewelery fell by 31%, the demand for gold coins and bars registered a growth of 20%.
According to jewelery showrooms, earlier people used to give priority to buying new jewelery during festival and wedding seasons, but this time they bought only those jewelery which they strictly needed. The remaining purchases were postponed. In big jewelery hubs like Ahmedabad, Surat and Rajkot, buyers have not been coming to the shops for the last several months. This is because gold prices reached Rs 1.26 lakh per 10 grams.
Big impact on sales of 24 carat jewelery
Jewelers say that when gold prices rise rapidly, the first thing common buyers do is stay away from heavy and pure 22 carat or 24 carat jewellery. This is the reason why this time the demand for “lightweight” and “low-carat” jewelery remained marginal, while the sales of traditional heavy designed jewelery declined the most. Buyers preferred low-cost options like 18 carat and 14 carat and the demand for 24 carat designed jewelery was the weakest.
Increase in demand for coins
The report of the World Gold Council also tells the same. While the demand for jewelery fell by 31%, the demand for gold coins and bars registered a growth of 20%. In the third quarter it increased to 91.6 metric tons, whereas in the same period last year it was 76.7 tons. Investment demand has reached 184 tonnes since the beginning of the year, which is the strongest performance since 2013.
Market experts say that when prices increased, people started focusing on savings instead of investment jewellery. That is, instead of buying jewellery, they chose to sell or exchange old jewellery. Due to this, less cash sales and more exchange transactions were seen in shops.
Prices increased 60 percent this year
The rise in gold prices has been going on continuously for the last 5 years, but in 2025, gold prices have surprised investors around the world by continuously hitting record highs. Gold rates in India have increased by 60 percent so far this year. So far this year, the price of gold has increased by Rs 46,762. On December 31, 2024, 10 grams of 24 carat gold was worth Rs 76,162, which has now become Rs 1,23,000. A similar rise was seen between January 2008 and August 2011, when gold prices increased by 100%.
