{"id":6381,"date":"2026-02-18T13:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/18\/top-10-central-bank-gold-reserves\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T13:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:40:09","slug":"top-10-central-bank-gold-reserves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/18\/top-10-central-bank-gold-reserves\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Central Bank Gold Reserves"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Global central banks own about 17 percent of all the gold ever mined, with reserves topping<\/strong> 36,520.7 metric tons (MT) at the end of November 2025. They acquired the vast majority<\/strong> after becoming net buyers of the metal in 2010.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Central banks purchase gold for a number of reasons: to mitigate risk, to hedge against inflation and to promote economic stability. Increased concerns over another global financial crisis have as expected led central banks once again to build up their gold reserves.<\/p>\n

In a mid-2025 survey, the World Gold Council (WGC) said that 95 percent of the central bankers it polled expect global gold reserves to increase over the next 12 months. The precious metal\u2019s ‘performance during times of crisis’ was cited by 85 percent of respondents as highly or somewhat relevant to their decision, while 80 percent cited its long-term store of value.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Central banks added 863.3 metric tons of gold to their vaults in 2025. While this was lower than the previous three years, which all topped 1,000 MT each, the reserve gains were still well above the 2010 to 2021 annual average of 473 MT.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/small><\/p>\n

Yearly central bank gold purchases since 2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/small><\/p>\n

Chart via the WGC<\/em><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

A record 95 percent of respondents to the WGC survey stated their belief that central banks will continue to grow their holdings, with 5 percent suggesting they would hold at current levels. For the second year in a row, no respondents expected reserves to decrease. <\/p>\n

The Council found that sentiment was consistent across advanced and emerging economies and reflected the strategic role of gold amid dynamic economic and geopolitical uncertainty.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Which central banks hold the most gold? <\/h3>\n

Read on to find out the 10 top countries by central bank gold holdings, as per data from the WGC, including recent Q4 2024 and full-year 2024 reports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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1. United States <\/h3>\n

Gold reserves: <\/strong>8,133.46 metric tons<\/p>\n

When it comes to the largest gold depository in the world, the American central bank is number one with 8,133.46 metric tons of gold. <\/p>\n

A large percentage of US gold is held in \u201cdeep storage\u201d in Denver, Fort Knox and West Point. As the US Treasury explains, deep storage is \u201cthat portion of the US Government-owned gold bullion reserve which the Mint secures in sealed vaults that are examined annually by the Treasury Department\u2019s Office of the Inspector General and consists primarily of gold bars.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rest of US-owned reserves are held as working stock, which the country’s mint uses as raw material to mint congressionally authorized coins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2. Germany <\/h3>\n

Gold reserves:<\/strong> 3,350.3 metric tons<\/p>\n

The Bundesbank, Germany\u2019s central bank, currently owns 3,351.53 metric tons of gold. Like many of the central banks on this list, the German national bank stores a significant portion of its gold in foreign central banks. <\/p>\n

Today, just over half of Germany\u2019s gold holdings are stored within Frankfurt, while internationally 1,236 MT of gold is stored in the vaults of the New York Federal Reserve, and 12 percent of its holdings are in London.<\/p>\n

The Bundesbank\u2019s foreign gold reserves came into question in 2012, when the German Federal Court of Auditors, the Bundesrechnungshof, was openly critical of the Bundesbank\u2019s gold auditing. The German bank issued a public statement defending the security of foreign banks. Privately, the Bundesbank then began the arduous process of repatriating some of its gold stock back to German soil. By 2016, more than 583 MT of gold had been transferred back to Germany.<\/p>\n

The economic upheaval and geopolitical volatility brought about by US President Donald Trump’s tariff wars and adversarial posturing toward Europe has led to calls for Germany to consider further repatriating its gold, reported The Guardian in January 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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3. Italy <\/h3>\n

Gold reserves<\/strong>:<\/strong> 2,451.9 metric tons<\/p>\n

Banca d\u2019Italia, the national bank of Italy, holds 2,451.84 metric tons of gold. The central bank began amassing its gold in 1893, when three separate financial institutions merged into one. From there, its 78 MT of holdings slowly grew into the large gold reserves it holds today.<\/p>\n

Like Germany, Italy stores parts of its reserves offshore. In total, 141.2 MT are located in the UK, 149.3 MT are in Switzerland and 1,061 MT are kept in the US Federal Reserve. Italy houses 1,100 MT of gold domestically.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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4. France <\/h3>\n

Gold reserves<\/strong>: <\/span><\/strong>2,437 metric tons<\/p>\n

The Banque de France has 2,437 metric tons of gold reserves, all of which it keeps on hand. The precious metal is stored in the bank\u2019s secure underground vault, dubbed La Souterraine, which is located 27 meters below street level.<\/p>\n

La Souterraine\u2019s gold vaults are one of the four designated gold depositories of the International Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n

According to Investopedia, the collapse of the Bretton Woods gold standard system was in part due to former French President Charles de Gaulle, who \u201ccalled the U.S. bluff and began actually trading dollars in for gold from the Fort Knox reserves.\u201d At the time, US President Richard Nixon \u201cwas forced to take the U.S. off the gold standard, ending the dollar’s automatic convertibility into gold.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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5. Russia <\/h3>\n

Gold reserves<\/strong>: <\/span><\/strong>2,326.5 metric tons<\/p>\n

The Bank of Russia is the official central bank of the Russian Federation and owns 2,332.74 metric tons of gold. Like France, Russia\u2019s central bank has opted to store all its physical gold domestically. The Bank of Russia stores two-thirds of its gold reserves in a bank building in Moscow, and the remaining one-third in Saint Petersburg.<\/p>\n

The majority of the yellow metal is in the form of large, variable-weight standard gold bars weighing between 10 and 14 kilograms. There are also smaller bars on site weighing as much as 1 kilogram each.<\/p>\n

Russia, which is the second largest gold producer by country, has been a steady purchaser of the precious metal since roughly 2007, with sales ramping up significantly between 2015 and 2020. However, Russia\u2019s refineries were banned from selling gold bullion into the London market following the country\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions by the west also include a freeze on about half of Russia\u2019s gold reserves.<\/p>\n

In early 2022, Russia tied its currency, the ruble, to the yellow metal. ‘The plan was to shift the currency away from a pegged value and into the gold standard itself so the ruble would become a credible gold substitute at a fixed rate,’ according to Robert Huish, an Associate Professor in International Development Studies at Dalhousie University.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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6. China <\/h3>\n

Gold reserves<\/strong>:<\/strong> 2,306.3 metric tons<\/p>\n

The central bank for Mainland China is the People\u2019s Bank of China (PBoC), located in Beijing. According to the WGC, the national financial institute stores 2,279.56 metric tons of gold, most which has been purchased since 2000. In 2001, the PBoC had 400 MT of gold in reserve, but in just a little more than two decades that total has climbed by 459 percent.<\/p>\n

The PBoC issues the Panda gold coin, which was first created in 1982. The Panda coin is now one of the top five bullion coins issued by a central bank. It is among the ranks of the American Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, South African Krugerrand and Australian Gold Nugget.<\/p>\n

The PBoC was one of the top gold buyers of the world’s central banks for 2024 and 2025, purchasing 44 MT and 27 MT of gold during the years respectively. April 2024 marked the 18th consecutive month of gold buying for China’s central bank, which paused its purchases afterward until picking them up again in November. As of January 2026, it has purchased gold for a further 15 consecutive months.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

7. Switzerland <\/h3>\n

Gold reserves<\/strong>: <\/strong>1,039.9 metric tons<\/p>\n

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) holds the seventh largest central bank gold reserves. Its 1,039.94 metric tons of gold are owned by the state of Switzerland, but the central bank manages and maintains the reserve. The Swiss constitution allows the SNB to buy and sell gold with market trends, but it is not required to report the sales. <\/p>\n

After years of opaqueness regarding the country\u2019s golden treasure trove and increased selling in 2011 as prices rose, the Swiss Gold Initiative was launched in 2011.<\/p>\n

The initiative called for an amendment to the constitution to add three new points to it. The first was a mandate for all reserve gold to be held physically in Switzerland. The other two dealt with the central bank\u2019s ability to sell its gold reserves, along with a decree that 20 percent of the Swiss bank\u2019s assets be held in gold.<\/p>\n

This culminated in a national referendum in 2014 that failed to reach a majority of votes. However, the public conversation did prompt the bank to be more transparent.<\/p>\n

According to a 2013 release, the central bank reported that 70 percent of its gold reserve was held domestically, 20 percent was located at the Bank of England and 10 percent was stored with the Bank of Canada.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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8. India <\/h3>\n

Gold reserves<\/strong>: <\/strong>880.2 metric tons<\/p>\n

The Reserve Bank of India is another central bank that has fervently acted to increase its holdings in recent years. It began adding to its gold assets in 2017; however, the majority of its purchases have taken place in the past four years.<\/p>\n

Strikingly, after India’s central bank purchased 16 MT of gold in 2023, the institution scooped up another 72 MT of the precious metal in 2024. However, its 2025 purchases totaled just 4 MT, its lowest in eight years.<\/p>\n

While more than half of its gold is held overseas in safe custody with the Bank of England and the Bank of International Settlements, about a third of its gold is held domestically. In June 2024, India repatriated 100 MT of gold from the United Kingdom. This was the first time since 1991 that the Reserve Bank of India moved its overseas gold holdings back home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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9. Japan <\/h3>\n

Gold reserves<\/strong>: <\/strong>846 metric tons<\/p>\n

The Bank of Japan currently holds 846 metric tons of gold. Public information about the Bank of Japan\u2019s gold reserves is hard to come by. <\/p>\n

In 2000, the island nation was holding approximately 753 MT of the yellow metal, and by 2004, the Bank of Japan\u2019s gold store had grown to 765.2 MT. Its gold reserves remained at that level until March 2021, when the country purchased 80.76 MT of gold, bringing it to its current total.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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10. Turkey <\/h3>\n

Gold reserves: <\/strong>613.7 metric tons<\/p>\n

The Central Bank of Turkey holds 613.7 metric tons of gold. Turkey has been a consistent gold buyer over the past several years, with its central bank adding 75 MT to its holdings in 2024. While the pace of the country’s buying slowed in 2025, the country accumulated another 27 metric tons through the end of November, making it the year’s fifth-largest gold buyer. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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*11. International Monetary Fund <\/h3>\n

Gold reserves<\/strong>: <\/strong>2,814 metric tons<\/p>\n

The gold reserve held by the International Monetary Fund is the third largest in terms of size at 2,814 metric tons. The large gold reserve was amassed primarily during the founding of the international organization in 1944.<\/p>\n

In that inaugural year, it was decided that \u201c25 percent of initial quota subscriptions and subsequent quota increases were to be paid in gold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since 1944, the International Monetary Fund has added gold through the repayment of debts owed by member countries. Nations can also exchange gold for another member country\u2019s currency.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/p>\n
This post appeared first on investingnews.com<\/div>\n

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