India Spends Record $55.7 Billion On Gold Imports In 2021: Report

India splurged a record $55.7 billion on gold imports in 2021, buying more than double the previous year's tonnage as a price drop favoured retail buyers and pent up demand emerged for weddings that were delayed when the pandemic first hit.

India splurged a record $55.7 billion on gold imports in 2021, buying more than double the previous year's tonnage as a price drop favoured retail buyers and pent up demand emerged for weddings that were delayed when the pandemic first hit.

The previously unreported details of the world's second biggest consumer nation's soaring imports were disclosed to Reuters by a senior government official who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to media.

The 2021 gold import bill easily doubled the $22 billion spent in 2020, and surpassed the previous high, set in 2011, of $53.9 billion, according to the official, who tracks broad import trends.

In volume terms, India imported 1,050 tonnes of gold in 2021, the most in a decade, and far more than 430 tonnes imported in 2020, the official said.