All that glitters: Indian brides buy half of country’s gold jewellery

India is the second largest gold jewellery consumer in the world and half of what India buys is worn by brides, according to the World Gold Council report.

Indian brides and Indian weddings are known for being all glitters and shimmers. And while a lot of this shimmer comes from the array of traditions, a huge glow comes with the gold that Indian brides adorn on their D-day. Now, a study has also corroborated this and said that brides in India buy half of the gold jewelry sold. The report also reveals that India is the second largest gold jewellery consumer in the world.

The findings were released in the 'Jewellery Demand and Trade' report released by the World Gold Council on 19 January 2023. The report further said that India bought 611 tonnes of gold jewellery, second only to China at 673 tonnes.

The big, fat Indian wedding

The report further found out that in Indian weddings are indeed 'all that glitters is definitely gold'. The bridal jewellery was found to dominate the gold jewellery segment taking almost 50-55 per cent of the market share in India, according to a report.

"Bridal jewellery remains the dominant segment (50-55% market share by weight), despite rising domestic gold prices over the last decade and stiff competition from other luxury purchases, such as destination weddings and foreign holidays," the report said.

The love for gold has sustained the price rise too. The Rupee gold price has almost doubled since 2012. Even as this change made manufactures gradually shift towards lighter weight pieces, bridal jewellery has been relatively price inelastic, losing only around 5-10% market share in that time, the report cited the findings of the field research.

Given the young population of the country, the council predicts that an estimated 11-13 million weddings happen in the country per year and so the gold share is not shrinking in the coming future either.

"As the average age of marriage for women in India is 22, the number of weddings per annum looks set to remain strong. Considering these numbers, demand for bridal jewellery should remain robust over the long term," the council predicted.

Customs marry contemporary in Indian weddings

While the traditional pieces of jewellery such as mangalsutras, maang tikkas, bangles etc remain high in demand, modern designs, want for wearability, increase in rupee gold prices along with growing popularity of diamond-studded pieces have, however, changed the bridal jewellery landscape in India.

While 18- and 14-carat gold jewelry too are gaining popularity, the leader so far remains the 22-carat gold with almost 80 per cent market share. The 18 and 14 carat combined account for 15-17 per cent share, with both having increased over the last decade, the report said. "The growth in lower caratages has been driven by three factors - the growing popularity of modern designs, the increase in rupee gold prices and the growth of studded diamond jewellery," said the report.

"India is a strong pillar of support for the global gold markets as the second-largest consumer of gold jewellery. While weddings and festivals act as important drivers of jewellery demand, our rich cultural heritage and historic status as a major global force in world commerce underpins this strong socio-economic relationship with gold," Somasundaram PR, regional CEO, India, World Gold Council, was quoted as saying in an Outlook India report.

Rural India largest consumer

In what could come as a surprise to many crying about the economy, the report found that rural India is the largest consumer of gold jewelry occupying 55-58 per cent of the market share, and the middle class is the primary gold consumer in India.

Does gold have a 'golden future' in India?

Well, thanks to the many steps taken so far, India's ties with gold are in no threat in the coming years.

The Indian government has focused on strengthening manufacturing and exports, and this is likely to be enhanced in the coming years. Proposals to allow advance payments to overseas precious metal suppliers, and the initiation of mega common facility centres (CFC) in SEEPZ in Mumbai and Surat, could boost exports if implemented, the report added.

Over the long term, gold jewellery demand in India will be driven by economic growth, income growth, and wealth distribution, as well as the rate of urbanisation," Somasundaram PR was quoted as saying in the Outlook India report.