World central banks have increased the amount of gold in their gold and foreign exchange reserves by 12 tons in April, according to preliminary estimates by the World Gold Council (WGC).

This is less than the average monthly purchases—of 28 tons—over the past year, WGC analyst Krishan Gopaul notes in his analysis. Perhaps this slowdown in purchases is a response to the rapid growth of gold prices since the beginning of the year. But even this increase is unlikely to prevent central banks from buying gold, as they are usually of a more strategic nature, the analyst believes.

The most active buyers of gold remain the central banks of developing countries. The leader in terms of these purchases is Poland—as it added 12.4 tons in April. Then, the Czech Republic (2.5 tons), Kyrgyzstan (2.3 tons), China (2.2 tons), Turkey (2.1 tons), Kazakhstan (0.9 tons), Jordan (0.7 tons), etc. follow by a large margin.

The largest seller of gold in April was Uzbekistan, as it reduced its gold reserves by 11.2 tons.

Gopaul notes that since the beginning of the year, gold purchases by central banks continue to be broad based, although confined to emerging markets and dominated by the National Bank of Poland. By comparison, sales are less widespread, but similarly dominated by a single bank: the Central Bank of Uzbekistan.