The price of gold could break through the $2,000 (£1,300) an ounce barrier in 2012, according to a new report.

The annual Thomson Reuters GFMS gold survey predicted that the price will reach $2,000 either late this year or in early 2013 as investors seek protection of their wealth.

Gold reached a high of $1,920 (£1,250) in September 2011 but has slipped back to around $1,650 (£1,075) an ounce currently as investors flocked to the US dollar as a safer investment.

Philip Klapwijk, global head of metals analytics at Thomson Reuters GFMS, commented, ‘The US dollar is the one question mark against gold trending higher. If we see a period of US dollar strength the price of gold could tread water for a while.

‘But I think medium term prices are still going to go up and we should see $2,000 an ounce this year.’

The survey also found that global investment in gold increased 20 per cent in 2011 to $80 billion (£52 billion), primarily due to a large increase in the buying of gold bars, up more than a third to almost 1,200 metric tonnes.

China, Germany, Switzerland and Austria led the way in buying gold bars, but there was increased interest from other countries’ central banks.

Klapwijk commented, ‘If you look at gold investment demand, it’s really very widely spread and it’s not just through ETFs (exchange traded funds) or funds.

‘We’re seeing significant demand for gold in bar and coin form, not just in Europe and the US, but in Asia as well. China in particular has been a fantastic market for gold demand.

‘Central bank demand has become an important pillar for the advancing gold prices. We’ve seen countries such as Mexico and South Korea coming to the market on the buy side and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw more countries do so in the future.’

A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of mining executives also found that 80 per cent thought the price of gold would continue rising this year, with most expecting it to exceed $2,000 an ounce.