Searches for precious metals rise by 40%: Report
1 min read 19 Oct 2022, 01:37 PM ISTThe significant rise in demand for gold in tier-II cities has been augmented by increasing disposable income and growing aspiration. Demand for silver has also been growing steadily
PremiumNEW DELHI: Ahead of the festival of Dhanteras, search for precious metals has risen 40% year-on-year with gold contributing 70% of the overall search data, according to a report by Reliance Retail-owned Justdial.The company’s ‘Consumer Report’ said demand for precious metals in tier-II cities remained higher vis-à-vis tier-I, with tier-II cities witnessing a 44% jump. Searches in tier-I cities for precious metals rose by 34%.
With prices softening, gold remained the most sought-after precious metal and saw a 34% year-on-year (YoY) jump in demand, silver 140%, platinum by 82%, while that for diamond remained stable on the listings company’s platform.
Last year during Dhanteras, demand for gold was three-fold of that of silver and this year it has jumped four-fold. The rise in demand bodes well for retailers across the country ahead of Diwali, it said. Prasun Kumar, the company’s chief marketing officer, said, “The rise in demand for gold comes on the back of softening prices. The significant rise in demand for gold in tier-II cities has been augmented by increasing disposable income and growing aspiration. Demand for silver has also been growing steadily witnessing a 2.4X growth across the country."Among tier-I cities, demand for gold jewellery was dominated by the four cities of Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Bengaluru. Delhi topped the demand for gold coins contributing to almost 41% of the searches and Mumbai for gold bars with 34% of the demand.Coimbatore led the demand among Tier-II cities for gold jewellery followed by Chandigarh and Lucknow. For gold bars, Jaipur topped the demand followed by Coimbatore and Lucknow. Jaipur also led the demand for gold coins in Tier-II cities with Coimbatore and Lucknow in second and third places, respectively. For silver, jewellery remained the most sought-after items contributing to 27% of the demand. Among Tier-I cities, Hyderabad topped the demand for silver jewellery followed by Bengaluru and Delhi. Silver coins remained popular in Delhi as the National Capital contributed to 50% of the demand and Bengaluru led the search for silver decorative items followed by Mumbai and Delhi.Among tier-II cities, demand for silver jewellery went up by 38%, silver coins by 46%, and dinner items by 41%. Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, and Rajkot saw maximum demand for silver jewellery that saw a 59% (YOY) rise in popularity. Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam also led the demand for silver dinner sets while silver coins were popular in Lucknow, Udaipur, and Jaipur.Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad saw maximum demand for diamond jewellery among tier-I cities while Jaipur, Coimbatore, and Indore led the demand among tier-II cities. For platinum jewellery, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru led the demand among tier-I cities and Surat, Coimbatore, and Jaipur among tier-II.
