In this article, we will look at the top 10 countries and central banks with the largest gold reserves.
10. India
India is the number 10th country with 560.3 tonnes of gold reserves and 5.5% of foreign reserves. Bank of India has one of the biggest gold stores in the world. India is also the second largest consumer of the precious metal. Indians wear & purchase gold especially during their wedding season from October to December.
9. Netherlands
The Netherlands has 612.5 tonnes of gold reserves and 68.2% of foreign reserves. Dutch central bank recently transferred 122 tonnes of its sovereign gold reserves to Amsterdam from New York.
8. Japan
Japan has 765.2 tonnes of gold reserves and 2.5% foreign reserves. Japan is not just the 8th largest country in the world with most gold reserves but it is also the third largest economy in the world.
7. Switzerland
Gold reserves in Switzerland remained at 1,040.0 tonnes with 5.3% of foreign reserves. Switzerland is the 7th largest country in terms of its gold reserves and largest in the world in terms of its gold reserves per capita. In World War II, Switzerland was the center of gold trade in Europe.
6. China
Gold reserves in China are 1,842.6 tonnes with 2.4% foreign reserves. People’s Bank of China shared its gold purchasing activity on a month-to-month basis starting from 2015. China is the 6th largest country in terms of its gold reserves but gold accounts for the very minor percentage of its overall reserves.
5. Russia
Russia is the 5th largest country in terms of its gold reserves with 1,909.8 tonnes of gold and 17.6% of foreign reserves. For the past many years Russian Central Bank has been the largest buyer of gold.
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4. France
France is the 4th largest country in terms of its gold reserves with 2,436.0 tonnes of gold and 63.9% of foreign reserves. The central bank has rarely sold its gold in past many years and might just completely halt it.
3. Italy
Italy is the third largest country in terms of its gold reserves with 2,451.8 tonnes of gold and 67.9% of foreign reserves. A reporter in 2013 asked the former Bank of Italy governor the role gold plays in central bank’s portfolio to which he replied, the metal is “a reserve of safety, it gives you a fairly good protection against fluctuations against the dollar.”
2. Germany
Germany has 3,371.0 tonnes of gold reserves and 70.6% of foreign reserves making it the second largest country in terms of its gold reserves. Germany recently moved 674 tonnes of gold to its own vaults from Banque de France and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
1. United States
The United States has the largest gold reserves with 8,133.5 tonnes of gold and 75.2% of foreign reserves. Majority of U.S. gold reserves are kept at Fort Knox in Kentucky and the rest is held at the Philadelphia Mint, Denver Mint, San Francisco Assay Office and West Point Bullion Depository.
