Lower income shrinks many people from buying gold jewelery.--Photo vietbao.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Demand for gold jewelry in Viet Nam is falling sharply, despite significant increases recorded in other Asian countries, according to the latest report of the World Gold Council (WGC).

Demand in China was 185 tonnes and demand in India was 160 tonnes, which raised global demand 12 per cent to 551 tonnes. But in Viet Nam, demand for gold jewelry was 4.4 tonnes, a reduction of 12 per cent.The report attributed the Vietnamese decrease to lower incomes and Government control of the gold market.

However, overall global demand for gold in the first quarter was 963 tonnes, valued at US$50.5 billion – a 19 per cent decrease from the last quarter of 2012. This was due to less investment in gold, less use of gold in technology and less gold purchasing by the central bank, which bought less gold than it had for nine quarters.

Gold investment in Viet Nam reached $974 million in the first quarter, down 20 per cent from last year. — VNS