By Lisa Monica, Sahrudin Fiqri M

BRICS countries are buying gold for three main reasons: to break away from the US dollar, to protect reserves from sanctions, and to hedge against debt spirals they did not create. The freezing of US$300 billion in Russian reserves held in the West in 2022 provided a stronger rationale than any policy document.

As reported by GoldSilver.com on Monday (20/04), dollar-denominated reserves can disappear overnight. Gold, by contrast, carries no such risk.

Gold was trading near US$4,850 per ounce in April 2026, up more than 40% in twelve months, and BRICS countries are still buying at a faster pace than before.

Most investors assume the story is about price. In reality, it is about what those purchases reveal about how the world’s largest emerging economies now think about money, risk and the dollar.

What BRICS Is and Why Its Gold Strategy Matters

BRICS is a major emerging economic bloc that has made sovereign gold reserve building a deliberate policy priority. The original five members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa were joined in January 2024 by Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE, and in January 2025 by Indonesia.

This brought confirmed full membership to ten countries. Saudi Arabia was invited but its formal accession is still unconfirmed. Argentina declined at the end of 2023.

The bloc now represents around 40% of global GDP (purchasing power parity) and about half of the world’s population. When economies of this size coordinate reserve decisions, they move markets structurally, not temporarily.

How Much Gold Are BRICS Countries Buying?

Combined BRICS+ gold reserves now exceed 6,000 tonnes. Russia leads with 2,336 tonnes, China holds 2,298 tonnes, and India holds 880 tonnes. Brazil even returned to the market in September 2025 its first purchase since 2021 adding 16 tonnes to reach 145.1 tonnes.

Between 2020 and 2024, BRICS+ central banks accounted for more than 50% of all central bank gold purchases globally. Their share of global gold reserves has risen from 11.2% in 2019 to 17.4% today.

Global central banks collectively exceeded 1,000 tonnes of annual gold buying in 2022, 2023 and 2024 the longest sustained buying streak in modern history. In 2025, purchases reached 863 tonnes. BRICS countries are driving much of this trend.

Why BRICS Countries Are Buying Gold: Four Drivers

De-dollarisation: The US dollar’s share of global reserves has fallen from 71% in 1999 to around 57% today its lowest level since 1994. BRICS countries are not switching to the euro or yuan. They are switching to gold: the only reserve asset with no issuer, no counterparty, and no political jurisdiction.

Sanctions-proofing: Dollar assets held abroad can be frozen. Domestic gold cannot. After 2022, that distinction became central to reserve management. Hedging against dollar weakness: US federal debt exceeded US$39 trillion in March 2026. Annual deficit spending is projected at about US$1.9 trillion for fiscal year 2026. Emerging market reserve managers are responding to that arithmetic. Gold is one of the few assets governments cannot print.

Building a post-dollar architecture: On 31 October 2025, researchers at the International Institute for Advanced Systems Research (IRIAS) launched a pilot for a gold-backed settlement “Unit” a digital trade instrument backed 40% by gold and 60% by BRICS currencies. This remains a research-led initiative, not official BRICS policy, but it signals direction: gold as a foundation for a parallel financial system.

What Changed After Russia’s 2022 Sanctions?

When the US and allies sanctioned Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, around US$300 billion of its US$643 billion in foreign reserves became inaccessible almost overnight, confirmed Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. The funds were held in foreign institutions. Russia’s domestically held gold was untouched.

Central bankers drew a clear conclusion: reserves you cannot access are not real reserves. Global central bank gold buying nearly doubled from around 500 tonnes per year pre-2022 to over 1,000 tonnes afterwards.

The Bank of Russia’s gold position grew by more than US$216 billion between February 2022 and the end of 2025, partially offsetting frozen assets. Sanctions intended to isolate Russia instead accelerated diversification.

Are BRICS Gold Purchases a Threat to the Dollar?

The dollar has not collapsed. It remains the dominant reserve currency. But dominance and direction are different.

Its share has fallen from 71% in 1999 to about 57% today. Gold’s share of global official reserves has more than doubled over the same period from below 10% in 2015 to around 19% partly due to price gains, but also deliberate policy shifts.

In the World Gold Council’s 2025 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey, 73% of central bankers expected the dollar’s share of reserves to fall further over the next five years. These are not traders making guesses but reserve managers hedging risk.

What This Means for Individual Investors

The forces driving BRICS gold buying are the same ones eroding purchasing power for individuals: deficit spending, currency dilution and geopolitical instability. Physical gold represents the individual version of what Russia learned in 2022 an asset that cannot be seized by foreign authorities.

About 43% of central banks plan to increase gold holdings over the next 12 months. None plan to reduce them. When the world’s most powerful financial institutions align on an asset, it is worth understanding whether you manage a sovereign balance sheet or a personal one.

What the Data Is Really Saying

BRICS countries are buying gold because the dollar-based system, reliable for 80 years, has been weaponised. Once that happened, central banks outside the Western alliance began asking a simple question: what do we really own if it can be frozen?

The answer, increasingly, is gold. BRICS+ reserves have risen from 11.2% of global gold holdings in 2019 to 17.4% today. Central banks have averaged over 1,000 tonnes of annual purchases since 2022. Seventy-three per cent of central bankers expect the dollar share to keep falling. None of this is speculative; it is already happening.

What It Means for Individual Savers

The same logic driving sovereign reserve managers into gold also applies to individuals. Debt that cannot be repaid is devalued through inflation. Currencies backed by deficit spending lose purchasing power over time.

Gold has no issuer, no counterparty risk and no government that can dilute it. That is why central banks hold it, and why individuals have held it for centuries.

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