LONDON (Reuters) -Physically backed gold exchange-traded funds recorded their largest semi-annual inflow since the first half of 2020 from January to June, data from the World Gold Council showed on Tuesday.

A trade war sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policy prompted investors to seek shelter from political and economic volatility in gold ETFs, which account for a major part of investment demand for the precious metal.

The active first half of the year follows a modest net inflow to gold ETFs in 2024 after three years of outflows caused by high interest rates.

Gold ETFs recorded an inflow of $38 billion in the first half of 2025 with their collective holdings rising by 397.1 metric tons of gold, said the WGC, an industry body whose members are global gold miners.

This raised the total holdings to 3,615.9 tons by the end of June, the largest since August 2022. Their record was 3,915 tons in October 2020.

U.S.-listed funds led the inflow with 206.8 tons in the first half, while Asia-listed funds drew 104.3 tons, according to the WGC.

"Despite slowing momentum in May and June, Asian investors bought a record amount of gold ETFs during the first half of the year, contributing an impressive 28% to net global flows with only 9% of the world's total assets under management," the WGC added.

Spot gold prices are up 26% this year, having hit a record high of $3,500 per troy ounce in April.