Do you have any idea which are the countries with largest private and public gold reserves? If not, or you are not very sure, we will try to make it more clear to you.
Gold reserves, as most of you are well aware, was the gold held by the national central banks (NCBs) intended to guarantee some kind of promises to pay depositors, note holders, etc., during the time of the gold standard. Today, gold reserves are used as a store of value or as a support to the value of the national currency. The World Gold Council is one of the main organizations of the market development for the gold industry. They aim to stimulate and sustain demand for gold, provide industry leadership, and be the global authority on the gold market. Moreover, they influence the authorities when it comes to creating pro-gold policies and raising standards across the gold industry. Therefore, while making our list, we took a lot of recommendations from their part, in order to see which are the world gold reserves by country in 2017.
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Another thing about gold is that it is very popular as an investment. Generally, investors tend to buy gold as a way of diversifying risk. Moreover, by comparing it to the other metals, gold has the most effective safe haven and hedging properties in many countries. Some countries are very rich in gold, which you can see by its gold reserves, such as for example India. How much gold does India have, you may wonder? Well, for the information on total gold in India, you will have to wait a little bit more! Just continue with the reading. What we can say is that you will probably be amazed by its gold holdings! Also, what is interesting is, that according to some sources, Indian public holds “20,000 tonnes of the yellow metal in jewelry, coins, and gold bars”. Just to intrigue you a bit more, on our list below you are going to learn more about Philippines gold reserves, but strangely for some, Pakistan gold reserves didn’t make the cut. Most famous city in Pakistan is Reko Diq because of its gold deposits; however, those deposits are not large enough for this list.
In order to make our list of 25 countries with largest private and public gold reserves, we used the International Financial Statistics of the World Gold Council published in 2017, as the main source. In this way, we obtained the freshest data on gold reserves by country in 2017. However, as our topic is just countries orientated, we excluded from the list the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as they are international institutions consisted of many member states (countries), and they don’t give the precise information on how much each of them has in gold reserves. Also, in order to find out if the results changed we searched for more sources. Therefore, we found information for each country mentioned on the Trading Economics and checked if numbers matched and made a comparison with the data on gold reserves by country in 2015 so that you have a better view of how little gold reserves change (or not) per year. We ranked the countries according to the amount of gold each country has in their reserves. We also included the information on the percentage share of total foreign reserves. We assume that the private gold holdings are confidential information, as we could just find estimations of them, so we couldn’t rank private gold holdings by country. Therefore, not to make wrong assumptions, we only included accurate facts regarding total gold holdings per country. If you are interested in gold in general or as a possible investor, maybe you will find interesting to read also about 10 Best Gold Stocks to Buy Right Now, and 10 Biggest Gold Mining Companies in the World.
Now, let’s check out our list of countries with largest private and public gold reserves.
25. Singapore
Tonnes of gold holdings: 127.4
Gold reserves in Singapore are estimated to be 127.4 tonnes, not just for the year 2015 but the year 2017 as well. As calculated by the World Gold Council, the percentage share of total foreign reserves is 1.9%.
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24. Thailand
Tonnes of gold holdings: 152.4
Gold reserves in Thailand are estimated to be 152.4 tonnes, not just for the year 2015 but the year 2017 (same case as Singapore). As calculated by the World Gold Council, the percentage share of total foreign reserves is 3.8%.
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23. Algeria
Tonnes of gold holdings: 173.6
Algeria has 173.6 tonnes of gold holdings since the year 2015, and the amount is still the same. The percentage share of total foreign reserves is 3.5%.
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22. Venezuela
Tonnes of gold holdings: 187.6
Gold reserves in Venezuela are estimated to be 367.6 tonnes in 2015, but in the year 2017, it lessened to 200 tonnes! As calculated by the World Gold Council, the percentage share of total foreign reserves is among the highest one with 69.3%.
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21. Philippines
Tonnes of gold holdings: 196.4
Philippines’ percentage share of total foreign reserves is 9.6%, according to the World Gold Council. However, their tonnes of gold holdings are way bigger — 196.4!
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20. Belgium
Tonnes of gold holdings: 227.4
On the 20th place on our list of countries with the largest public and private gold reserves is Belgium. Gold reserves in this country are estimated to be 227.4 tonnes. As calculated by the World Gold Council, the percentage share of total foreign reserves is 34.7%.
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19. Austria
Tonnes of gold holdings: 280.0
Gold reserves in Austria are estimated to be 280.0 tonnes, not just for the year 2015 but the year 2017 as well. As calculated by the World Gold Council, the percentage share of total foreign reserves is high with 43.4%.
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18. Spain
Tonnes of gold holdings: 281.6
The percentage share of total foreign reserves in Spain, which ranks 18th on our list of countries with largest private and public gold reserves is 21.7% according to the World Gold Council. Moreover, tonnes of gold holdings are estimated to be 281.6.
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17. Lebanon
Tonnes of gold holdings: 286.8
You thought Lebanon is a poor country? You will think twice now that you know its tonnes of gold holdings! Moreover, its percentage share of total foreign reserves is 21.5%.
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16. Kazakhstan
Tonnes of gold holdings: 289.3
Gold reserves in Kazakhstan are estimated to be 191.8 tonnes in the year 2015. However, they raised drastically in 2017. As calculated by the World Gold Council, the percentage share of total foreign reserves is pretty high with 25.7%.
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15. United Kingdom
Tonnes of gold holdings: 310.3
Gold reserves in the United Kingdom which ranks 15th on our list of countries with largest private and public gold reserves, are estimated to be 310.3 tonnes, not just for the year 2015 but the year 2017 as well. As calculated by the World Gold Council, the percentage share of total foreign reserves is 11.2%.
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14. Saudi Arabia
Tonnes of gold holdings: 322.9
One of the most known countries for gold reserves is definitely Saudi Arabia. Its gold holdings are estimated to be 322.9 tonnes. Moreover, the percentage share of total foreign reserves is just 1.7%.
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13. Portugal
Tonnes of gold holdings: 382.5
Yes, you read it well, it’s true – the Portugal has 382.5 tonnes of gold holdings! In addition, its percentage share of total foreign reserves is 75.3% according to the World Gold Council, which is among the highest ones, along with Venezuela.
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12. Taiwan
Tonnes of gold holdings: 423.6
Gold reserves in Taiwan, the number 12 on our list of countries with largest private and public gold reserves are estimated to be 423.6 tonnes, not just for the year 2015 but the year 2017 as well. As calculated by the World Gold Council, the percentage share of total foreign reserves is 3.9%, which is way less than two previous countries.
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11. Turkey
Tonnes of gold holdings: 495.6
Gold reserves in Turkey are estimated to be 529.1 tonnes in the year 2015. However, for the year 2017 gold holdings are smaller, as you can see. As calculated by the World Gold Council, the percentage share of total foreign reserves is 16.1%.
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10. India
Tonnes of gold holdings: 557.8
On the 10th place on our list of the countries with largest private and public gold reserves is India. Its gold reserves are 557.8 tonnes, and according to the World Gold Council, the percentage share of total foreign reserves is 6.7%.
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9. Netherlands
Tonnes of gold holdings: 612.5
Did you know that Netherlands has 612.5 tonnes of gold holdings? Now you do! In addition, its percentage share of total foreign reserves is 55.2% according to the World Gold Council.
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8. Japan
Tonnes of gold holdings: 765.2
Gold reserves in Japan are estimated to be 765.2 tonnes, not just for the year 2015 but the year 2017 as well. As calculated by the World Gold Council, the percentage share of total foreign reserves is only 2.4%.
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7. Switzerland
Tonnes of gold holdings: 1,040.0
One of the most expensive countries is estimated to have 1,040.0 tonnes of gold holdings! Moreover, Switzerland’s percentage share of total foreign reserves is 7.7%, according to the calculation of the World Gold Council.
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6. Russia
Tonnes of gold holdings: 1,778.9
Fifth on our list of countries with largest private and public gold reserves is Russia with 1,778.9 tonnes of gold holdings! The percentage share of total foreign reserves of this country is 12.2%. According to other sources, Russia keeps two-thirds of the nation’s gold in a Central Bank repository in Moscow.
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5. China
Tonnes of gold holdings: 1,842.6
Gold reserves in China are estimated to be 1,842.6 tonnes, not just for the year 2015 but the year 2017 as well. As calculated by the World Gold Council, the percentage share of total foreign reserves is, believe it or not, only 1.0%.
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4. France
Tonnes of gold holdings: 2,435.9
Gold reserves in France are estimated to be 2435.4 tonnes, not just for the year 2015 but the year 2017 as well. According to the World Gold Council, the percentage share of total foreign reserves is 65.6%.
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3. Italy
Tonnes of gold holdings: 2,451.8
Tonnes of gold holdings in Italy which ranks 3rd on our list of countries with largest private and public gold reserves are estimated to be 2,451.8. But that is not all! The percentage share of total foreign reserves is 66.6% which is also a lot comparing it to other countries on the list.
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2. Germany
Tonnes of gold holdings: 3,373.7
Gold reserves in Germany are estimated to be 3,373.7 tonnes, not just for the year 2015 but for the year 2017 as well. As calculated by the World Gold Council, the percentage share of total foreign reserves is 67.8%.
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1.USA
Tonnes of gold holdings: 8,133.5
On the top of our list of countries with largest private and public gold reserves is, of course, the USA. Tonnes of gold holdings are 8,133.5, while the percentage share of total foreign reserves is 72.6%, according to the World Gold Council. Well known Fort Knox is American depository which holds more than 147 million ounces of gold, with estimated market value of more than $186 billion, according to the Daily Mail.
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