China was world's biggest consumer in 2013. - Global demand for gold fell by 15% in 2013 compared to 2012, following the historic flight by investors and massive exchange traded funds in gold (ETF) for the first time since they were created 10 years ago. In its annual report, the World Gold Council indicated that prices for gold experienced a sudden plunge of 29% in 2013. With the fall in prices and the emergence of the middle class in the country, the demand from Chinese consumers soared by 32%, to more than 1,000 tonnes last year, which is bigger than sales in India, the biggest traditional purchaser of gold until now. The demand from individuals in the world rose to 3,863.5 tonnes in total, which constitutes a record. The World Gold Council also highlighted a distinctive phenomenon arising in 2013 - unprecedented moves away from gold in Western markets to Eastern markets. The most striking example was in the United Kingdom, one of the main centres in the gold market, which exported 1,739 tonnes of precious metals in 2013, as opposed to 160 tonnes in 2012. This is the equivalent of $59.6 trillion or 60% of global gold mining production in terms of volume. The majority of this gold ended up in China. Individual enthusiasm for this mineral was also highlighted in Turkey, where demand increased by 60% and in Thailand, where it grew by 73%. The volume of gold ending up in the coffers of global central banks, however, fell by a third last year. The World Gold Council calculated that 369 tonnes in the volume of gold entered these banks' coffers in 2013. The Council did, however, point out that these central banks had bought much more gold in 2012, which explains the shortfall in 2013. China is proving the exception, however, with the Chinese Central Bank having acquired significant quantities of this precious metal last year. Nevertheless, official statistics for this country have not yet been published. The most recent report dated 2009, indicates that the Chinese central bank at the time, possessed 1,054 tonnes in its coffers, an amount that could have possibly increased by two and a half times as much, according to the experts, to reach 2,710 tonnes, which would make its gold reserves the third biggest in the world after the US and Germany. (IL)