Gold reserve

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For private and state holdings in gold, see Gold holdings.
For the gold mining company, see Gold Reserve Inc. For the 1925 Soviet film, see Gold Reserves (film).
Official U.S. gold reserve since 1900
Changes in Central Bank Gold Reserves by Country 1993–2014
Central 2005 and 2014

A gold reserve is the gold held by a national central bank, intended mainly as a guarantee to redeem promises to pay depositors, note holders (e.g. paper money), or trading peers, during the eras of the gold standard, and also as a store of value, or to support the value of the national currency.

The World Gold Council estimates that all the gold ever mined, and that is accounted for, totalled 190,040 metric tons in 2019[1] but other independent estimates vary by as much as 20%.[2] At the price of $40 per gram reached on 16 August 2017, one metric ton of gold has a value of approximately $40.2 million. The total value of all gold ever mined, and that is accounted for, would exceed $7.5 trillion at that valuation and using WGC 2017 estimates.[note 1]

IMF holdings

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Since early 2011, the gold holdings of the IMF have been constant at 2,814.1 tonnes (90.5 million troy ounces).[3]

Officially reported holdings

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The IMF regularly maintains statistics of national assets as reported by various countries.[4] This data is used by the World Gold Council to periodically rank and report the gold holdings of countries and official organizations.

On 17 July 2015, China announced that it increased its gold reserves by about 57 percent from 1,054 to 1,658 tonnes, while disclosing its official gold reserves for the first time in six years.[5][6]

In July 2015, the State Bank of Vietnam stated that gold reserves totalled 10 tonnes. However, it was not ranked below due to the current absence of any published data.

In 2019, the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) extended the gold allocation limit from 5% to 10%, in accordance with the amendments made to the Investment Policy of the Fund for diversification purposes.[7] However, the Central Bank of Azerbaijan does not hold any gold.

The gold listed for each of the countries in the table may not be physically stored in the country listed, as central banks generally have not allowed independent audits of their reserves. Gold leasing by central banks could place into doubt the reported gold holdings in the table below.[8]

Top 50 according to World Gold Council's latest rankings (as of 3 September 2025)[9]
Rank Country/Organization Gold holdings
(in metric tons) 		Gold's share of
forex reserves
1 United States 8,133.5 77.8%
2 Germany 3,350.2 77.5%
— International Monetary Fund 2,814.0 —[a]
3 Italy 2,451.8 74.2%
4 France 2,437.0 74.9%
5 Russia 2,332.7 29.5%
6 China 2,298.5 6.7%
7  Switzerland 1,039.9 9.6%
8 India 900.0 13.0%
9 Japan 845.9 6.8%
10 Turkey 634.7 50.1%
11 Netherlands 612.4 68.0%
12 Poland 530.2 25.9%
— European Central Bank 506.5 33.9%
13 Taiwan 422.4 4.7%
14 Portugal 382.6 84.2%
15 Uzbekistan 364.5 79.1%
16 Saudi Arabia 323.1 4.7%
17 United Kingdom 310.2 16.5%
18 Kazakhstan 306.1 62.0%
19 Lebanon 286 -
20 Spain 281.5 25.4%
21 Austria 279.9 68.6%
22 Thailand 234.5 9.4%
23 Belgium 227.4 49.2%
24 Singapore 204.1 5.1%
25 Algeria 173.5 23.0%
26 Venezuela 161.2 83.0%
27 Libya 146.6 15.5%
28 Philippines 129.7 12.9%
29 Brazil 129.6 3.9%
30 Egypt 128.5 23.7%
31 Sweden 125.7 19.2%
32 South Africa 125.4 19.3%
33 Mexico 120.1 5.0%
34 Qatar 116.1 22.2%
35 Greece 114.5 61.3%
36 Hungary 110.0 21.0%
37 South Korea 104.4 2.1%
38 Romania 103.6 13.8%
— Bank for International Settlements 102.0[b] —[a]
39 Australia 79.8 13.1%
40 Kuwait 79.0 10.0%
41 Indonesia 78.6 3.6%
42 United Arab Emirates 74.5 2.6%
43 Jordan 72.8 33.6%
44 Denmark 66.5 4.1%
45 Pakistan 64.7 30.1%
47 Argentina 61.7 16.3%
48 Belarus 53.8 49.3%
49 Serbia 52.2 16.4%
50 Finland 43.7 22.5%
51 Bulgaria 40.8 9.0%
— World 35,938.6[c] 15.2%
— Euro Area (including the ECB) 10,771.5 56.4%
  • Notes
  1. ^ a b BIS and IMF balance sheets do not allow this percentage to be calculated.
  2. ^ Excluding any gold held in connection with swap operations, under which the bank exchanges currencies for physical gold. The bank has an obligation to return this gold at the end of the contract.
  3. ^ World total as calculated by the IMF. This will not equal the total for the countries in the table as ‘World total’ will include data for countries beyond the top 100 and for countries that do not publish their reserves. World total also captures BIS holdings inclusive of swap operations.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ One tonne is equal to approximately 32,150.75 troy ounces. Gold, silver, & other precious metals & gems are weighed by the troy ounce: 12 troy ounces = 1 troy pound (and not 16 to 1 as in the avoirdupois weight system)

References

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  1. ^ "How much gold has been mined? Archived 2018-09-29 at the Wayback Machine", World Gold Council
  2. ^ "How much gold is there in the world? Archived 2020-02-12 at the Wayback Machine" by Ed Prior, BBC News, 30 April 2013
  3. ^ "Gold in the IMF". International Monetary Fund. Archived from the original on April 22, 2011.
  4. ^ "Data Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity -- Reporting Countries". Archived from the original on 2018-12-26. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  5. ^ "Gold & Foreign Exchange Reserves". Archived from the original on 2015-07-21. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  6. ^ "Major Factors Affecting Gold Prices Fluctuation". FXdailyReport.Com. 2016-07-22. Archived from the original on 2016-10-02. Retrieved 2016-10-28.
  7. ^ "Investment policy 2020" (PDF). oilfund.az. 29 December 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  8. ^ "- Sprott Global Resource Investments Ltd". Archived from the original on 2014-10-15. Retrieved 2014-10-09.
  9. ^ "World Official Gold Holdings - International Financial Statistics, 3 September 2025". World Gold Council. 3 September 2025. Retrieved 3 September 2025.