Supplies to India, UK, France drive Swiss September gold exports up 74% y/y

LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Gold exports from Switzerland rose 74% year-on-year in September as deliveries to India, Britain and France jumped, Swiss customs data showed on Tuesday, indicating high investment demand despite the gold price XAU= rally.

Supplies to India rose to 30 metric tons, their 10-month high, as Indian dealers were stocking up for this month's festive season, the Swiss data showed.

Shipments to China, another major bullion consumer, fell 11% from August but posted a twofold growth from a year ago, reaching 31.0 tons.

Customs data from Switzerland, the world's biggest gold refining and transit hub, showed that gold bars were returning from the U.S. stocks and after re-melting were redirected back to Britain, home to the world's largest over-the-counter gold trading hub.

Gold imports by Switzerland from the U.S. jumped to 48.1 tons, highest since May, while exports from Switzerland to Britain rose to 27.9 tons, highest since July.

Meanwhile, deliveries to France, Europe's second-largest economy after Germany, soared to 26.5 tons, the largest amount in the data going back to 2012, the data showed.

France is in the midst of its worst political crisis in decades as a succession of minority governments seek to push deficit-reducing budgets. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived two no-confidence votes in parliament last week and now faces weeks of fraught talks to adopt a budget for 2026.

Swiss total gold exports and supplies to key markets(in kgs):

Source: Swiss customs data for the HS code 710812. Data subject to revision.