Gen Z Buys Gold Like Never Before

Gold buying leaps among younger investors...

GEN Z is showing a greater affinity towards investing in gold than any people the same age previously over the past 20 years, writes Arthur Size at world-leading precious metals platform BullionVault.

BullionVault in 2025 saw a record number of first-time users coming from the 16-27 age group. That number has already been matched over the first 6 months of 2026, and the proportion of all new users aged in the Gen Z bracket has set a new high so far this year.

Additionally, the average monthly number of new Gen Z investors on BullionVault − which today cares for $7.9 billion (£5.9bn) in precious metal for over 130,000 users from 175 countries − has since the start of 2025 increased by three-and-a-half times from the 2015-2024 number.

Outside this age range, the increase has been only 2.5 times, meaning that precious metal investors − as a group − are getting younger, because Gen Z are the focal point for the boom in new buying.
 

 

Gold isn't the only asset that is seeing a rise in Gen Z investors.

J.P.Morgan Chase reports that the number of 25-year-olds with an active investing account in the US stock market was 6% in 2015. By 2024, that had risen to 37%, roughly six times the size.

One-third of US investors classed as Gen Z, says the report, began trading "before graduating from university or in early adulthood, double the rate of Millennials at the same age."

UK spread-betting platform Tickmill reports that 43% of its customers are under 30, and retail investor trading in the USA is meanwhile "witnessing a Gen-Z boom" says professional investor magazine International Finance, quoting data from derivatives exchange Nasdaq.

Beyond Europe and the USA – where BullionVault finds 9-in-10 of its userbase – India is also seeing a rise in Gen Z gold investors.

The Smytten PulseAI Survey, a nationwide survey of 5,000 Indian consumers aged 18-39, says that 61.9% of respondents would choose gold if they had ₹25,000 to invest today (around $250 or £200) compared to mutual funds (16.6%), fixed deposits (13%), stocks (6.6%) and crypto (1.9%).

So why might it be that Gen Z is investing more actively, including in gold? Five possible reasons stand out.

1. Rising Gold Prices

With the gold price skyrocketing in 2025 gold was always going to be a more attractive investment. BullionVault saw a record number of new users last year, with the rate of account openings more than doubling from 2024. The growth in younger investors outpaced that rise.

2. Trading Apps/Gamification

As technology and apps constantly improve, trading and investments of all kinds have become easier. Apps such as eToro and Trading 212, as well as physical gold-buying through BullionVault's apps, has made trading faster and, in some cases, they've even made it more fun, through the 'gamification' of investing, designed specifically to attract younger users.

3. Social Media

Gen Z are known to use platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube for finding financial advice from certain influencers. With this huge volume of information being so widely accessible, Gen Z can clearly be more informed – if not always better informed – than any generation prior.

4. Relative Wealth

Gen Z's investing habits could be attributed to the level of cash that they hold. Barclays Bank reports that Gen Z hold over $450 billion in global disposable income. This significant purchasing power, coupled with the ease and level of information surrounding trading of all types could be one of the factors influencing this changing demographic of traders. Where this disposable cash comes from will have to be a story for another day!

5. Safe Haven

Finally, why gold? Rightly or wrongly the precious metal has always enjoyed a reputation as the ultimate safe haven – secure, reliable and a valuable stabiliser to hold in a portfolio. So, in times of economic and political unrest, it's natural for investors to buy gold – and Gen Z has been born and raised during a period of perma-crisis. While there's no guarantee the trend will continue, the price has risen through the Dot Com Bubble Burst, 2008 crash, Eurozone Crash, Brexit, Covid and the Ukraine-Russia and now Middle East War.

In sum? From BullionVault's record-breaking younger customer base to J.P.Morgan's six-fold rise in young investors, Gen Z is investing more actively than previous generations did at their age. They're increasingly including gold, the world's oldest investment, and while the exact cause needs further research, one thing is clear:

Gold's future is currently looking younger than its past.