There will be more on this subject later in the day after I get a chance to read through the entire report, but the lead graphic from the World Gold Council’s latest Gold Demand Trends covering all of 2012 was clearly worth sharing here early on as the dark violet bars below are an important, ongoing story.

The cessation of gold sales by Western central banks a few years ago and the sharp increase in gold purchases by emerging market central banks (not including China since they’re not telling anyone how much gold they’ve acquired) have combined to be one of the most important trends in the gold market since the financial crisis.

Of course, there’s good reason for this. It seems that Western central banks have cranked up their printing presses in recent years in an effort to combat the after-effects of a financial crisis that, in the view of many, easy money policies over the years were a key factor in creating.