Digital payments, cryptocurrencies, fiat currencies. In theory, gold should be a thing of the past. And yet central banks all over the world keep buying it. Stockpiling it. Competing for it.
Why? Because gold is the only asset that doesn’t depend on any government’s promise. It cannot be printed. It doesn’t expire. And in a world of rising debt, geopolitical instability and currency wars — that matters more than ever.
So let’s take a look at who owns the most of it.
The ranking of countries with the largest gold reserves
Learn more: World Gold Council · IMF IFS · BullionVault (2025)
5 things this data tells us
1. 🇺🇸 The USA plays in a league of its own
8,133 tonnes. More than Germany, Italy and France combined. This wealth dates back to the Bretton Woods era, when world currencies were pegged to the dollar — which in turn was tied to gold. Richard Nixon brought that system to an end in 1971, but the United States kept its vaults full. With hindsight, a smart choice.
Fort Knox and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York are the two main custodians. Together they hold roughly a quarter of all the gold held by central banks on the planet.
2. 🇪🇺 Europe is still a giant
Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands together hold more than 9,800 tonnes – more than the United States. European central banks accumulated these reserves during the post-war boom and have barely touched them since.
🇮🇹 THE SURPRISE: Italy, in third place, is the most surprising case: 2,452 tonnes, one of the largest reserves in the world, but also one of the highest debt-to-GDP ratios in the Eurozone. Gold is, in a sense, the ultimate insurance policy of the Bel Paese.
3. 🇨🇳 China is buying… slowly
Official figures put China at 2,304 tonnes. But many analysts believe the real number is much higher, since Beijing often acquires gold through channels that bypass the usual reporting to the IMF.
The strategy is clear: de-dollarise. Reduce dependence on US financial infrastructure. Gold is the “cleanest” way to do it without making too much noise.
4. 🇷🇺 Russia is selling, for the first time.
For over a decade, Russia was one of the most aggressive gold buyers in the world — tripling its reserves between 2007 and 2022. That trend has now reversed. Faced with a huge budget deficit, caused by the war in Ukraine and Western sanctions, Russia has started liquidating part of its reserves.
It is a significant signal. Even a country that built its own “financial fortress” on gold is not immune to the cost of geopolitical miscalculations.
5. 🇮🇳 🇯🇵 India and Japan: ones to watch!
India has gone from around 557 tonnes in 2020 to 880 tonnes today. The Reserve Bank of India is one of the most active buyers globally — hedging against rupee volatility and dollar dependence.
Japan, long a passive holder, has quietly increased its own reserves too. Both moves signal something important: even stable, mature economies are going back to treating gold as a serious strategic asset.
The number to remember
The Top 10 countries in the ranking control roughly 57% of all the gold reserves held by the world’s central banks. The remaining 43% is split between well over 100 nations!!
What this data tells us
The map of gold reserves is really a map of who trusts what. The countries holding the most gold are not necessarily the richest — they are the ones built on financial dominance (USA, Europe) or the ones actively preparing for a world in which the current order might change (China, India).
Gold pays no dividends. It generates no interest. But it has been a store of value for 5,000 years. And in 2025, apparently, that is still a convincing argument.
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