Retail buyers in China and India, the world's largest and second-largest retail gold consumers, are leaving gold stores without buying anything due to high gold prices. With gold prices just off their records of 2020, caused by safe-haven investors seeking solace amid recession fears and banking crises in the US and Europe, retail buyers are not purchasing jewellery items. India and China accounted for 48% of total global retail demand in 2022; hence dealers in these countries have reduced premiums by almost $40 an ounce in China to small discounts, and cutting discounts to $57 an ounce under official domestic prices in India.