Which Country Has The Largest Gold Reserves?

Gold has a certain aura about it for investors and countries. For most of history, gold has been a rare and valuable metal. As a result, people have invested in gold and it has been used as currency since ancient times. Moreover, since the late 1800s, countries have stored gold as reserves because it emerged as a currency. Eventually, it evolved into the gold standard.

The gold standard in various forms effectively concluded in 1971 when the United States stopped allowing the conversion of the U.S. dollar to gold. This action essentially ended the Bretton Woods system set up in 1944. However, many countries, including the United States, still hold substantial gold reserves.

What is a Gold Reserve?

A gold reserve is a quantity held by a country’s central bank. During the gold standard era, gold was used as currency, and paper money would be redeemed for gold. Hence, national or central banks held gold to permit this exchange.

The gold standard ended in 1931 in Britain and 1933 in the United States. The federal government devalued the dollar and nationalized private gold holdings. From here, a quasi-gold standard developed where central banks could exchange U.S. dollars for gold. Countries held gold reserves to redeem for paper money because gold was convertible to U.S. dollars. 

They also held it for trading, as a store of value, to support the currency, and fight inflation. It could also serve as currency with neutral nations during wars.

End of the Gold Standard

Eventually, private gold markets developed, causing a divergence between the official and market rates. Subsequently, high inflation combined with growing economies made the $35 per ounce peg untenable. 

The Bretton Woods gold standard ended in 1971 when President Nixon stopped allowing the convertibility of the U.S. dollar for other nations’ central banks. However, this measure was meant to be temporary.

The Smithsonian Agreement devalued the dollar to $38 per ounce. But within one year, this peg became impractical too. So in early-1973, the dollar was devalued yet again to $42.22 per ounce. But the new exchange rate was unworkable in two weeks, and the dollar floated freely. At this point, the nation’s currencies were fiat money.

However, central banks still maintain gold reserves. Today, the countries with the most gold reserves typically have the largest economies.

U.S. Gold Reserves

The United States owns the largest gold reserves at approximately 8,133.53 tons. This amount is more than twice as much as the following country, Germany. This quantity is 261,423,103 Fine Troy Ounces, where one ton equals approximately 32,150.75 troy ounces. At the current gold market price of $2,232.8 per ounce, the United States gold reserves are worth $583,692,433,223. However, the book value is much lower because the statutory rate is only $42.2222 per Fine Troy Ounce.

Notably, the U.S. keeps most of its reserves in gold. According to the U.S. Treasury gold website, the gold is divided into quantities held in mints and by the N.Y. Federal Reserve Bank. The three U.S. mints are Fort Knox, Kentucky; West Point, New York; and Denver, Colorado. The tables below show the distribution by type and location.

By Type

Federal Reserve Bank – Gold	Mint Gold – Deep Storage	Mint Gold – Working Stock
13,376,987.7	245,262,897.040	2,783,218.656

By Location

All Locations - Coins	Denver, CO	Federal Reserve Bank - Display	Federal Reserve Bank - NY Vault	Fort Knox, KY	West Point, NY
73,829.50	43,853,707.28	1,993.32	13,376,987.72	147,341,858.38	54,067,331.38

Gold Reserves by Country

After the Great Recession, many countries reversed earlier trends and bought gold instead of selling it. However, the top ten nations have been relatively stable year-to-year. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Gold Council track the amount of each country’s gold reserves.

At the end of 2022, the top ten countries’ gold reserves were the United States, Germany, Italy, France, Russia, China, Switzerland, Japan, India, and the Netherlands.

The table below lists the top 50 countries by their gold reserves. In addition, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of International Settlements also have significant amounts of gold.

Country	Abbreviation	Gold Reserves (tons)	Rank
United States	USA	8,133	1
Germany	DEU	3,353	2
Italy	ITA	2,452	3
France	FRA	2,437	4
Russia	RUS	2,333	5
China	CHN	2,235	6
Switzerland	CHE	1,040	7
Japan	JPN	846	8
India	IND	804	9
Netherlands	NLD	612	10
Turkey	TWN	540	11
Euro Area	KAZ	507	12
Taiwan	TUR	424	13
Portugal	PRT	383	14
Uzbekistan	UZB	371	15
Poland	SAU	359	16
Saudi Arabia	GBR	323	17
United Kingdom	LBN	310	18
Kazakhstan	ESP	294	19
Lebanon	AUT	287	20
Spain	THA	282	21
Austria	POL	280	22
Thailand	BEL	244	23
Singapore	DZA	230	24
Belgium	VEN	227	25
Algeria	PHL	174	26
Philippines	SGP	165	27
Venezuela	BRA	161	28
Libya	SWE	147	29
Iraq	ZAF	138	30
Brazil	MEX	130	31
Egypt	LBY	126	32
Sweden	GRC	126	33
South Africa	KOR	125	34
Mexico	ROU	120	35
Greece	IRQ	114	36
South Korea	HUN	104	37
Romania	EGY	104	38
Qatar	AUS	101	39
Hungary	KWT	94	40
Australia	IDN	80	41
Kuwait	DNK	79	42
Indonesia	PAK	79	43
Jordan	QAT	74	44
United Arab Emirates	ARE	74	45
Denmark	ARG	67	46
Pakistan	BLR	65	47
Argentina	KHM	62	48
Belarus	FIN	54	49
Finland	BOL	49	50

Bottom Line

The country with the largest gold reserves is the United States.

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