India has become the largest Swiss gold importer, with the latest Swiss government data showing that 42% of its total gold export goes to India.

According to the Swiss government, its total worth of exported gold, silver and coins in June stood at SFr3.9bn (US$4.3bn), of which India accounted for SFr1.63bn (US$1.8bn) of the net value.

Indian demand for gold has taken overall Swiss exports this year to SFr32.1bn and out of that total, exports alone to India hit SFr7.3bn, roughly 23% of the market.

In the last decade, 75% of gold demand in India has taken the form of jewellery, according to the World Gold Council.

China replaced India as the world’s largest consumer of the precious metal last year.

Chinese demand for gold is set to rise by 20% from the current level of 1,132 tonnes per year to at least 1,350 tonnes by 2017, according to the World Gold Council.