The Countries With The Largest Gold Reserves Mapped

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During the 19th and early 20th century epochs of the gold standard, national governments were obligated to redeem the national currency for a specific quantity of gold. Back then, every nation’s central bank used its gold reserves to meet those commitments, backing some or all of the currency in issue with the gold it owned. Besides, gold reserves were stored by governments to meet the costs of waging war conflicts.

Nowadays, gold reserves are a valuable tool for governments, which buy large amounts of gold to neutralize rising inflation. Also, the value of imports and exports from a country is highly related to the nation’s currency. If imports surpass exports, the currency’s value falls, and vice versa. This signifies that a country that exports gold and has a surplus of gold reserves can often see a boost in the strength of its currency.

The World Gold Council assesses that all the gold ever mined, and that is accounted for, totaled about 200 thousand metric tons in 2020. Still, other independent estimations differ by as much as 20 percent. The total value of all gold ever excavated, which is accounted for, would surpass $7.5 trillion at that valuation.

The map below shows the top 10 countries with the largest stockpiles of gold.

Top 10 countries with the Largest Gold Reserves

1. United States – 8,133 tonnes – $373,430,444,426
2. Germany – 3,369 tonnes – $154,711,817,616
3. Italy – 2,451 tonnes – $112,568,606,829
4. France – 2,436 tonnes – $111,843,187,142
5. Russia – 2,168 tonnes – $99,552,373,843
6. China – 1,885 tonnes – $86,568,279,703
7. Switzerland – 1,040 tonnes – $47,749,143,936
8. Japan – 765 tonnes – $38,852,246,882
9. India – 609 tonnes – $34,611,350,266
10. Netherlands – 613 tonnes – $28,121,491,020

The U.S. remains the largest holder of gold, holding more than 8 thousand tonnes of it in its stores, which is worth more than $373 billion. This was more than twice the gold reserves of Germany and more than three times the gold reserves of France and Italy. China was rated 6th for the amount of gold it has on reserve, but more gold is mined in China than in any other nation. While the share of gold reserves comprised 79% of the American central bank holdings in 2020, in China, this figure amounted to only 3.5%.

On the map below, the American gold reserves are compared to the gold reserves of other countries.

On the other hand, Australia is home to the largest gold mine reserves and the 2nd-largest producer of gold after China. Starting in the beginning 2000s, the Bank of Canada sold its gold reserves. Canada is nowadays the only G7 nation without any official gold holdings. While gold no longer acts as an object of exchange and as a confirmation value, for many countries, gold remains an investment asset for governments and could protect against inflation or recession.