Gold ETF Flows Tracker
GLD and GLDM held 1,276.3 tonnes of gold on 29 Oct 2026, after a net inflow of 18.6 t in September 2026. Holdings of the big US-listed gold ETFs since 2004, monthly flows in tonnes and how they line up with the gold price, from the funds' own published figures. Updated monthly; last update 30 Oct 2026.
Holdings and flows, last 13 months (tonnes at month end)
| Month | GLD (t) | GLD flow | GLDM (t) | GLDM flow | Net flow (t) | Gold price, month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 (MTD) | 1,041.1 | −14.6 | 235.2 | +6.5 | −8.1 | −5.32% |
| Sep 2026 | 1,055.7 | +13.3 | 228.7 | +5.2 | +18.6 | −6.58% |
| Aug 2026 | 1,042.4 | +35.3 | 223.5 | +12.1 | +47.4 | +9.12% |
| Jul 2026 | 1,007.0 | +1.9 | 211.4 | +0.8 | +2.7 | +1.70% |
| Jun 2026 | 1,005.1 | −24.1 | 210.6 | −0.6 | −24.6 | −12.07% |
| May 2026 | 1,029.1 | −6.6 | 211.2 | +1.8 | −4.8 | −0.79% |
| Apr 2026 | 1,035.8 | −11.5 | 209.4 | +9.5 | −2.0 | −0.39% |
| Mar 2026 | 1,047.3 | −54.0 | 199.9 | −2.2 | −56.2 | −11.44% |
| Feb 2026 | 1,101.3 | +14.2 | 202.1 | +7.8 | +22.0 | +10.60% |
| Jan 2026 | 1,087.1 | +16.5 | 194.3 | +11.7 | +28.3 | +9.31% |
| Dec 2025 | 1,070.6 | +25.1 | 182.6 | +6.0 | +31.1 | +2.03% |
| Nov 2025 | 1,045.4 | +6.2 | 176.6 | −1.1 | +5.2 | +6.47% |
| Oct 2025 | 1,039.2 | +26.3 | 177.6 | +8.0 | +34.4 | +3.18% |
Sources: issuer historical archives for GLD and GLDM (daily tonnes of gold), iShares IAU fund page (tonnes in trust), COMEX gold month-end closes. Calculations by XAUUSD Global. Last updated . Refreshed monthly.
Are investors buying or selling gold ETFs?
On 29 Oct 2026 SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) held 1,041.1 tonnes of gold and SPDR Gold MiniShares (GLDM) 235.2 t; with the iShares Gold Trust (IAU) at 462.3 t the three funds held 1,738.6 t. In September 2026 GLD and GLDM together saw a net inflow of 18.6 t (about US$2.5 billion at the month-end gold price). Over the 12 months to Sep 2026 the net flow was +102.0 t, and so far in 2026 it is +23.1 t.
Over the last 30 trading days: GLD −11.8 t (17 Sep 2026 to 29 Oct 2026); GLDM +6.2 t (17 Sep 2026 to 29 Oct 2026). GLD's highest month-end holding in its history was 1,350.8 t (Dec 2012).
Gold ETF flows and the gold price
The chart shows holdings and price sharing the same long trend: GLD's tonnes built up into its Dec 2012 peak, fell back during the 2013 sell-off and rebuilt in later rallies. Over the last 120 complete months, the correlation between the monthly net flow (tonnes) and gold's monthly price change was +0.52 (a moderate link), and flows had the same sign as the price move in 85 of 120 months. A correlation measured in the same month cannot say which came first: inflows add demand, and rising prices also attract buyers, so flows often follow the move rather than lead it.
Method
- Funds: SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), the largest physically backed gold ETF; SPDR Gold MiniShares (GLDM), from its launch in June 2018; and the iShares Gold Trust (IAU). These are exchange-traded trusts that hold allocated gold bars; they are financial instruments, not brokers.
- Holdings: GLD and GLDM publish the tonnes of gold in each trust every business day in their historical data archives; we keep the last value of each month. IAU publishes “tonnes in trust” on its fund page but no free history file, so we record one snapshot at every monthly refresh:
- 29 Oct 2026: 462.3 t
- Flow: the change in month-end tonnes. Dollar values use the month-end COMEX gold futures close and are approximate.
- Gold price: month-end close of COMEX gold futures, the same series as our gold price history.
Limitations
- Three US funds are not the whole market. Funds listed in Europe and Asia (and many smaller US funds) are not included. The World Gold Council's gold ETF holdings and flows data covers the global total but needs a free Goldhub login.
- A small part of each month's change is gold sold to pay the trusts' fees, so a fund with no creations or redemptions still shows a slight monthly decline.
- The current month is shown as month to date until it ends. Issuers can correct past figures; each refresh takes their latest file.
- Holdings show what investors in these funds did, not what all investors did. Futures positioning is a separate story: see the gold COT report tracker.
How traders use gold ETF flows
- Confirmation of a trend. A rally that comes with rising tonnes has broad investor participation; a rally while holdings fall is being driven by someone else (futures traders, central banks or Asian physical buyers).
- The multi-week direction, not a single day. Daily flows are noisy. A run of outflow months has tended to come with weaker gold, but it is a description of what investors did, not a forecast.
- Next to official demand. Western investors and central banks do not always agree; compare this page with the central bank gold buying tracker.
- Next to the macro drivers. Flows often respond to the dollar, real yields and Fed expectations; see gold vs real yields and the dollar and what moves gold prices.
Cite this data
You are welcome to quote and chart these figures with a link. Suggested citation:
Please cite the original source as well when you republish a figure, and check the “last updated” date: the tables are rebuilt every month and issuers occasionally correct past holdings.
Want to talk through what the flows mean for your own gold trading? The XAUUSD Global community reviews charts and plans live every day: first month free, then $19.99 a month.
Education, not signals. These figures describe what official institutions and funds reported; they are not a forecast and not a recommendation to buy or sell anything.
Frequently asked questions
How much gold does GLD hold?
1,041.1 tonnes on 29 Oct 2026, according to the trust’s published holdings. Its highest month-end level was 1,350.8 t in December 2012.
Were gold ETF flows positive in September 2026?
Yes. GLD and GLDM together had a net inflow of 18.6 tonnes in September 2026, while the gold price fell 6.6% (COMEX, month end to month end).
Where does this gold ETF data come from?
From the funds’ own published figures: the daily “tonnes of gold” in the historical archives of SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) and SPDR Gold MiniShares (GLDM), and the “tonnes in trust” figure on the iShares Gold Trust (IAU) fund page. We take month-end values and calculate the changes. We do not estimate anything.
What is a gold ETF flow?
The change in the amount of gold a physically backed fund holds. When investors buy more shares than are sold, authorised participants create new shares and the trust buys bars (an inflow); when they redeem, bars leave the trust (an outflow). Measuring it in tonnes removes the effect of the gold price on the fund’s dollar value.
Do ETF flows move the gold price?
They are one source of demand among many, and the relationship runs both ways: inflows add demand, and rising prices also attract inflows. The correlation on this page measures how closely monthly flows and monthly price changes have moved together, but it cannot show cause and effect. Treat flows as confirmation of a trend, not a timing signal.
Why don't you show global gold ETF flows?
The full global total (all funds in North America, Europe, Asia and elsewhere) is compiled by the World Gold Council and its data files need a free Goldhub account, so we link to it instead of copying it. This page covers three of the largest US-listed physically backed funds.
Educational tool only. Not financial advice and not a signal. Check your own broker's contract specification, margin rules and costs. Past data does not predict future prices. See our risk disclaimer.