US gold exchange-traded fund assets have surpassed $190 billion for the first time, according to market data, capping a dramatic surge that has driven global gold ETF inflows to $30 billion through May 2025.
The milestone underscores the remarkable turnaround in investor sentiment toward gold, with US funds leading a global rally that has seen total worldwide gold ETF assets reach $374 billion. While global flows experienced a modest $1.8 billion pullback in May, the overall trajectory remains sharply upward.
Despite the May decline, 2025 flows remain sharply positive. The first quarter delivered $21 billion in fresh investment — a performance matched only once before during the market chaos of mid-2020, when pandemic fears drove $24 billion into gold funds over three months.
American investors drove the buying spree, providing nearly two-thirds of first-quarter demand, while European buyers supplied roughly one-fifth. Asian markets punched above their weight, delivering one-sixth of total flows despite holding less than one-tenth of global gold ETF assets.
The surge reflects gold’s exceptional price performance, with the precious metal gaining approximately 29% year-to-date as investors sought safe-haven assets amid trade policy uncertainties, inflation, and geopolitical concerns.
Gold ETF holdings expanded by 322 tonnes through May to reach 3,541 tonnes, representing a sharp reversal from a four-year stretch of net redemptions that concluded in 2024. Investors had been pulling money from the funds as climbing interest rates made yield-generating bonds more appealing than non-income-producing gold.
Industry analysts view the sustained inflows as a potential catalyst for further gold price gains, with major banks forecasting the metal could climb toward $4,000 per ounce by mid-2026, with some predictions reaching nearly $4,000 by year-end 2025.
Read: Bank of America Raises Gold Target to $4,000 Over Next Year
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