Shipments of gold from Japan will reach 100 metric tonnes in 2011, according to Takahiro Morita, the Japan director of the World Gold Council.

This comes as Morita, citing data from the Ministry of Finance, said on Thursday that Japan's gold exports in the 10 months ended October totaled 95.6 metric tonnes, their highest level since 2008 at 95.5 metric tonnes.

Individuals in possession of gold bars and jewellery contributed to the number of Japan's exports of the yellow metal.

"More and more people who bought gold and jewelry in the 1980s and 1990s are selling back what they purchased," Kotaro Horita, a trade of precious metals in Tokyo, told Bloomberg.

Gold bullion is entering its 11th consecutive year of gains as central banks around the world join corporate and individual investors in buying the metal to diversify assets. Japan's largest gold retailer, Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K., said that in the nine-month period ending September alone, it purchased 40 percent more bars and jewelry from individuals.

Central bank purchases have more than doubled by 114 percent over the previous quarter, and this by far "represents the highest level of central bank buying since at least 1970 and may be the most on record," said Jason Hamlin of seekingalpha.com.

Purchases by central banks could hit 450 metric tonnes this year, said Marcus Grubb, managing director of investment research at the council..

Data from the International Monetary Fund showed last year's acquisition of the safe haven precious metal by central banks and government institutions reached 142 metric tonnes.

Central banks have been aggressively buying gold to increase their total reserve allocation, a move to diversify investments away from U.S. dollars, Hamlin said.

Prices hit a record high of $850 an ounce in the 1980s, averaging $418.50 during the decade, according to Bloomberg data.