Official U.S. gold reserve since 1900Changes in central bank gold reserves by country 1993–2014Central 2005 and 2014
A gold reserve is the gold held by a national central bank, mostly in a country, 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 $144 per gram reached on 25 December 2025, one metric ton of gold has a value of approximately $144 million. The total value of all gold ever mined, and that is accounted for, would exceed $27 trillion at that valuation and using WGC 2017 estimates.[note 1]
IMF holdings
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
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.
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]
Note that while Russian gold reserves are listed as 2,332.7 tonnes, of the 405.7 tonnes held by the National Wealth Fund at the beginning of the war, only 173.1 remained as of November 2025.[9] From November Russia started selling physical NWF gold on the internal gold market, whereas it had previously sold it to the Central Bank, to maintain NWF liquidity while preserving physical reserves.[9]
Top 50 UN countries according to World Gold Council's latest rankings (as of 5 May 2026)[10]
12BIS and IMF balance sheets do not allow this percentage to be calculated.
↑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.
↑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.
↑One tonne is equal to approximately 32,150.75 troy ounces. Gold, silver, and other precious metals and gems are weighed by the troy ounce: 12 troy ounces = 1 troy pound (and not 16 to 1 as in the avoirdupois weight system)
