The claim is directly and authoritatively confirmed by the World Gold Council's official Gold Demand Trends Q1 2026 report (published 29 April 2026), which is the primary data source for global gold demand statistics. The report explicitly states 244 tonnes of net central bank purchases in Q1 2026, up 3% year-on-year. The 36-tonne quarter-on-quarter increase (from Q4 2025) and the characterization as above the five-year average (~228 tonnes) are consistent with the WGC data and corroborated by multiple independent news outlets including Aletihad, Economy Middle East, and IndexBox. The 'highest since Q4 2024' framing is plausible given Q4 2024 saw an exceptional ~365-tonne spike and Q1 2025 was approximately 237 tonnes (244t in Q1 2026 being +3% y/y implies Q1 2025 was ~237t), making Q1 2026 the strongest quarter since that Q4 2024 peak. All key figures in the claim align with the authoritative WGC primary source.