The value of U.S. gold exports in February, the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data available, was almost four times greater than any previous February.

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The value of U.S. gold exports soared to $17.88 billion, the highest monthly total dating back at least two decades and almost certainly ever, according to my analysis of the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Gold, which is coming off its best year since 1979, is a safe haven in uncertain times. While many factors can affect its price and movement, economic and political uncertainty are generally the factors that lead to the widest swings.

This year, those factors are plentiful:

• Iran, which appears to be intensifying;
• Ukraine, which just seems to keep on going and going, four years in;
• Greenland, which appears to have gone away as an issue after President Trump’s failed effort to acquire it for the United States;
• Gaza, which is literally all but gone, decimated by Israel in retaliation for Hamas’ attack, the worst suffered in Israel’s history;
• IEEPA tariffs, which are also literally gone, declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, undoing the steepest tariffs imposed by the United States since 1930 – and leading to new replacement tariffs;
• Venezuela, which is still there but its former president was whisked away in a clandestine raid by U.S. forces.

There are, of course, the seemingly mundane issues that can affect the price of gold, if not its movement:

• Whether a new Federal Reserve chair would be more likely to deliver the lower interest rates Trump wants;
• A number of countries’ central banks, including China’s opting for gold over U.S. treasuries for their reserves in the wake of Russian foreign reserves being frozen;
• A major gold exchange, COMEX, tightening trading rules slightly in an effort to slow price volatility.

So, perhaps not surprisingly, February was the highest monthly total on record for U.S. exports in the primary gold category (HS 7108), enough to make it the No. 1-ranked U.S. export among the 1,200-plus categories.

That had never occurred – until last October. Now it has done so a remarkable three of the last five months.

That’s uncertainty. Economic and political.

In February, the latest data available, more than 85% of that gold left from JFK International Airport, not far from a vault under Wall Street where about 15% of U.S. holdings is stored. The majority of U.S. exports were bound for Switzerland and the United Kingdom, as is traditionally the case. Switzerland serves as a transshipment hub and also as a refiner from 12.4 kg bars, or dors, into 100-ounce or smaller bars.

It is worth noting that Hong Kong slipped past the United Kingdom to rank second as a destination for U.S. gold exports in February. I cannot be certain about those gold exports but it is possible the exports are to satisfy demand for use in jewelry and manufacturing on mainland China rather than gold reserves, which could be handled through a book entry in New York rather than shipped.

The remarkable rise in both the price of gold and the value of exports actually began last year, as winter turned to spring. It was just prior to when Trump announced his trade war with the world on April 2, what he called Liberation Day, an event similarly unsettling for financial markets as the talk of a war with Iran has been.

That was one of the primary factors on the way to gold and gold investors having their best year since 1979.

Now, while the price of gold has not continued its meteoric rise and has dropped more than 15% since its late-January zenith, the value of U.S. exports has nevertheless once again accelerated.

To provide a little context, there are only three years in which the value of U.S. gold exports exceeds the total for the first two months of 2026.

It’s not just the price of gold.

The tonnage of U.S. gold exports, while not setting a record in February, was the second highest monthly total dating back to January of 2003, the oldest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The record month was October of last year, which also happens to the second-highest value on record, at $16.72 billion. Then, the price of gold was lower than in February.

The three highest totals for both value and tonnage have occurred in the last five months, similar to the value totals. The other month was November.

In the end, the soaring value of U.S. gold exports is a reflection of how deeply economic and geopolitical uncertainty affect not only its price but also its movement, moving the precious metal to the top of the list among all outbound U.S. shipments.