Gold loans pip personal loans in retail segment in Q3FY26, shows data

Gold loans overtake auto loans as the second-largest retail segment, with rapid growth driven by soaring gold prices and rising borrower demand

Gold loans have overtaken personal loans to emerge as the second-largest retail loan segment after housing at the end of the December quarter (Q3FY26). 

As of December 2025, the gold loan portfolio stood at ₹16.2 trillion, marginally higher than personal loans at ₹15.9 trillion. 

Housing loans continued to dominate the retail credit landscape at around ₹43 trillion during this period. According to Macquarie Capital data, gold loans as a proportion of consumption loans have doubled since Q1FY24. 

In Q1FY24, gold loans accounted for 7.2 per cent of total consumption loans, which stood at ₹78 trillion. By Q3FY26, their share has risen to 14.3 per cent, with the overall consumption loan book expanding to ₹113.5 trillion. In absolute terms, the gold loan book nearly trebled over the period — ₹5.6 trillion in Q1FY24 to ₹16.2 trillion in Q3FY26.  System-wide, gold loans have recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 30 per cent in the past two years.