A gold reserve is the gold held by a central bank to support the value of its national currency and, during the gold standard era, was used as a guarantee for deposits and investment.
Gold reserves are a helpful tool for governments, which can purchase large amounts of gold to counteract rising inflation.
Following a historical high level of central bank gold buying, gold continues to be viewed favourably by central banks.
According to the survey of the World Gold Council 24% of central banks intend to increase their holding reserves in the next 12 months.
Central banks’ views towards the future role of the US dollar were more pessimistic. By contrast, their views towards gold’s future role grew more optimistic, with 62% saying that gold will have a greater share of total reserves compared to 46% last year.
Top 10 countries in the largest gold reserves (March 2023)
- United States 8133 tons
- Germany 3355
- Italy 2452
- France 2437
- Russia 2327
- China 2068
- Switzerland 1040
- Japan 846
- India 795
- Netherlands 612
The United States has the largest gold reserves in the world at 8,133 tons, more than Germany and Italy combined. The U.S also has the highest gold allocation as a percentage of its foreign reserves at 76%. Many central banks turned last years from being net seller to net buyers in 2010.
Gold reserves in Poland remained unchanged at 229 tons in the first quarter of 2023.
Source: World Gold Council
