Switzerland sent 58.3 tons of gold worth 3.3 billion Swiss francs ($3.6 billion) to Türkiye in January, by far the most for any month in records stretching back to 2012, Swiss customs data revealed on Tuesday.

Gold is traditionally seen as a safe means of storing wealth and Turkish demand for the metal has rocketed as sky-high inflation eroded the value of the national currency.

Switzerland is the world's biggest bullion refining and transit hub. It shipped 188 tons of gold worth 10.1 billion Swiss francs last year to Türkiye, up from only 11 tons in 2021.

But January's shipments are an acceleration. Switzerland's gold exports to Türkiye have never previously exceeded 34 tons in a single month, as per Swiss data.

The quantity of gold flowing into Türkiye has worsened the country’s current account deficit, which rose to $48.8 billion last year.

After earthquakes struck Türkiye this month, causing thousands of deaths and huge economic damage, the government moved to reduce the amount of gold entering the country by suspending some imports and asking banks to widen the spread for gold transactions, making them costlier to curtail demand.

Switzerland's shipments to Türkiye accounted for 42% of its total gold exports in January.

The country sent 3.2 tons to India in January, the lowest for any month since May 2021, and 26.1 tons to mainland China, the least since May 2022.

India and China are the two biggest gold consumer markets, and demand often rises when gold prices are low and falls when gold prices increase.

Gold prices rocketed from a low of $1,615.59 an ounce in early November to as high as $1,959.60 on Feb. 2 before slipping back to around $1,840 by Tuesday.