Which Country Owns the Most Gold? Gold Reserves By Nation
Data and charts for today's Top 10 largest gold buyers and holders...
CENTRAL BANK gold buying is a vital factor in the global gold bullion market today, writes Tom Montagu at BullionVault.
Over the past 5 years, leading estimates say that central banks as a group have chosen to buy almost 1 in every 4 ounces produced by global gold mining. Their demand outweighed inflows to gold-backed ETF investment products more than 17 times over.
In fact, the total quantity of gold bullion now reported to be held in national central-bank reserves – shown on BullionVault's interactive data tables and map below – today accounts for 17% of all the gold ever mined in all of history.
Which countries lead this central-bank gold buying? Here, BullionVault shares data and analysis revealing both today's largest gold reserves holders plus which nations have chosen to buy the most gold between the start of 2021 and the start of 2026.
However, before looking at the data, its limitations should first be acknowledged. Official figures published by the IMF are derived from self-reported disclosures by respective central banks. As there is no mandatory reporting obligation, nor any sanction for misreporting, many analysts believe that central bank gold holdings are significantly under-reported.
This discrepancy is evident by comparing the official data with the most closely-followed estimates even for last year alone. IMF figures aggregating central bank holdings show a net increase of 298.5 tonnes between Q1 and Q4 2025. By contrast, data on global gold supply and demand from the mining industry's World Gold Council indicates net central bank demand of 850.1 tonnes over the same period − a gap of more than 550 tonnes.
Under-reporting is widely considered to be strategically motivated. China, for instance, is believed by many analysts to have disclosed less than half of its actual gold holdings, thereby understating the scale of Beijing's efforts to reduce the share of US assets in its foreign exchange reserves, commonly known as 'de-dollarisation'.
Nonetheless, on official data, China, Poland, Turkey and India have topped the table for outright gold buying, with notable changes to previously dominant buyers such as Russia. But none of those countries top the table for outright gold reserves holders. Not yet, and not on the official data at least.
Get the full picture of the world's largest central bank gold buyers and holders with these interactive map and tables.
Top 10 countries by gold reserves 2025
USA
Official data for the start of 2026 says that the United States continues to lead the global gold rankings with a massive 8,133.5 tonnes of gold held in reserve. Against its population of close to 342 million, this translates to an average of 23.8 grams of gold per person, worth $3134 per head at gold's mid 2026 prices. Despite no change in reserve volume over the past five years, that per capita figure underscores the scale of America's longstanding investment in gold as a strategic asset. The consistent volume also reflects the Federal Reserve's conservative approach to its gold policy.
Germany
Germany's gold reserves amount to 3,350.3 tonnes, maintaining its position as Europe's top gold-holding nation. With a population of just over 83 million, this equates to an impressive 40.1 grams per person. This high per capita figure reflects Germany's deep-rooted trust in gold as a store of value, managed by the Deutsche Bundesbank. Although the tonnage has dipped slightly from 2021, the country's commitment to gold remains firm.
Italy
Based on Italy's official data to the start of 2026, its gold holdings stand firm at 2,451.8 tonnes, unchanged from five years earlier. With a population nearing 59 million, the country enjoys a strong 41.6 grams of gold per capita, one of the highest ratios in Europe. This consistent reserve level demonstrates Italy's continued reliance on gold as a key component of its national financial security, overseen by the Banca d'Italia.
France
France holds a substantial 2,437.0 tonnes of gold, virtually unchanged from the start of 2021. With a national population approaching 69 million, this amounts to around 35.5 grams of gold per capita. Managed by the Banque de France, the country's long-standing commitment to gold underscores its strategic role in safeguarding monetary stability, even as public interest in gold fluctuates.
Russia
Russia has, on its publicly stated data, boosted its gold holdings to 2,326.5 tonnes, reflecting a steady rise from its start-2021 level. With a population of approximately 143.5 million, this equates to 16.2 grams per capita. Though not the highest on the list, Russia's strategic focus on increasing its reserves over time points to a broader effort to bolster economic independence and reduce exposure to foreign currencies.
China
China's officially reported gold reserves grew significantly to 2,306.3 tonnes by the start of 2026, marking a continued upward trend in accumulation. However, with a vast population of over 1.4 billion, the country still only holds 1.6 grams of gold per person, one of the lowest per capita levels among major reserve holders. This disparity highlights the impact of population size on per capita figures, even when total reserves are high. But it might also be contradicted by the widespread view among gold-market analysts that Beijing is most likely growing its gold holdings faster than it reports in public, cutting its exposure to the Dollar and other US assets in favour of bullion.
Switzerland
Switzerland remains a global outlier when it comes to per capita gold, with 1,039.9 tonnes of gold reserves shared among just over 9 million people. This results in an impressive 114.4 grams per person, by far the highest gold-per-head ratio in the world. Despite a referendum in 1999 voting to end the Franc's formal gold-backing in law, the Swiss National Bank's commitment to maintaining large reserves of bullion reflects Switzerland's historic role as a haven of financial security and independence.
India
India's gold reserves rose significantly from 676.6 to 880.3 tonnes over the past half decade, a 30% increase in just five years. However, with a population of more than 1.46 billion, this results in just 0.6 grams of gold per person. While the per capita figure is small, the growth in reserves signals the Indian authorities' recognition of gold's role in supporting national economic resilience and diversifying financial assets. That appeal is already well-known by India's private households, the 2nd largest buyers of the precious metal behind China's household sector.
Japan
Japan's gold reserves increased to 846.0 tonnes at start of 2026, up from 765.2 at the start of 2021. With a population around 123.4 million, that gives the country a modest 6.9 grams of gold per capita. While not among the highest, this figure reflects Japan's cautious and balanced approach to reserves management, with gold playing a supporting role alongside foreign currencies and other assets.
Turkey
Turkey's gold reserves climbed to 614.3 tonnes as of New Year 2026, edging the country back into the Top 10 on BullionVault's analysis and pushing the Netherlands out − though on Ankara's reported figures, that total includes a large portion of Turkey's commercial bank gold holdings counted among its sovereign reserves. With a population of about 85.9 million, this equates to a more modest 7.2 grams of gold per capita, reflecting how a much larger population dilutes Turkey's per-head standing compared with smaller nations like the Netherlands − which sits at 33.9 grams per capita and total reserves of 612.5 tonnes.
Who is buying the most gold among central banks and why?
At the start of the 21st century, all of the Top 10 central bank gold nations were 'legacy' holders, sitting on massive reserves built during or in the years following World War Two.
Led then as now by the United States, eight of those Year 2000 giants were in Western Europe, and the other was Japan. Whereas today, Russia comes in 5th place, with China in 6th and India in 8th.
What changed to drive this surge of non-Western gold buying?
First came the early 2000s' rush of globalization. It poured Western consumers' cash into emerging-market nations' central-bank reserves, buying gas and crude oil from Russia plus manufactured goods from China and India. It also coincided with ill-advised gold bullion sales by many Western nations, made at what proved to be the eve of gold's dramatic 21st Century gains to date.
Then, around 2010, the US and European financial crisis saw emerging-market central banks buy gold to spread their portfolio risk away from the Dollar. That move has since continued, but with a sharp geopolitical edge, since Russia was hit by Western financial sanctions over its invasions of Ukraine, first annexing the region of Crimea in 2014 and then attempting to take the whole country since 2022.
That has seen demand to buy gold for national central bank reserves spread among many smaller nations. Because Washington and Brussels have, in the eyes of many, chosen to 'weaponize' their currencies as a tool of geopolitical control. Gold, in contrast, is no one's to control through bank clearing systems or outright default. So it shines as a way of diversifying exposure to the Dollar, to the Euro, and to the political actions of Western governments.
China
China is now the world's 2nd largest economy, growing from the 7th largest in 1999. Driving that growth, China's giant manufacturing sector and trade surplus − it ships out over 14% of global merchandise exports by value but buys under 11% of imports − has enabled the central bank in Beijing to build massive foreign currency reserves, led by the US Dollar.
China's FX reserves at the People's Bank are so huge, its massive gold holdings still accounted for just 9% of the total in US Dollar terms at the end of May 2026. That ratio has more than tripled over the past 20 years as Beijing nearly quadrupled the weight of its gold bullion reserves to reach 2,331 tonnes on the official data. That makes China the 6th largest national gold holder, with analysts believing that the vast bulk if not all of its gold is stored domestically.
But do those figures understate China's true bullion reserves? Many analysts believe China's real holdings are larger - perhaps double the reported total, based on private-sector demand versus mining output and bullion imports. The excess supply must have gone somewhere and the PBOC has a history of keeping gold reserve changes secret, only to suddenly announce huge jumps.
Poland
Poland trails only China in net purchases form start of 2021 to start 2026, with two other members of the European Union also showing strong appetite for central-bank gold reserves.
While some of Warsaw's gold buying appeared politically motivated under the right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS), Poland's gold purchases have continued since it lost power in 2023. After adding 102 tonnes last year, Poland has acquired another 64 tonnes year-to-date in 2026. Their reserves now stand at 614 tonnes, approaching the National Bank of Poland's publicly stated target of 700 tonnes.
Hungary and the Czech Republic
Hungary and the Czech Republic have meanwhile seen their gold reserves surge multiple times over since the start of 2021. Hungary's holdings have more than tripled from 31.5 to 110.0 tonnes, while the Czech Republic's have grown more than sevenfold, from 9.5 to 71.6 tonnes, with its purchase in May 2026 extending its run to 39 consecutive months of net purchases, one of the longest active buying streaks of any central bank in the world. Like Poland, both countries are due to join the single Euro currency at some stage. But for now, they continue choosing the safety of gold bullion as a key monetary reserve.
Turkey
Gold is deeply embedded in the culture and commercial system of Turkey from wedding gifts and religious celebrations to commercial contracts where rent in hubs like the Grand Bazaar is often priced in gold. Crucially, generations of Turkish citizens have relied on gold as a trusted hedge against severe inflation and persistent lira devaluation, with households accumulating an estimated 3,500 tonnes of “under the pillow gold” by 2015.
In 2011, Turkey’s commercial banks were allowed to meet part of their domestic currency reserve requirements using physical gold, increasing holdings and effectively pulling bullion into the formal banking sector. In 2017, the Central Bank of Turkey (CBRT) echoed the sentiment of its citizens and began an aggressive accumulation drive starting in 2017 to diversify foreign exchange reserves and cushion sovereign risk. By the end of 2025, the CBRT had added a net 498.2 tonnes of gold to its official reserves, bringing total holdings to 614.3 tonnes and breaking into the largest 10 gold holders.
However, that dramatic buying spree sharply reversed in early 2026. Driven by intense macroeconomic pressures − including spiralling domestic inflation, mounting current account deficits, and geopolitical shocks − the central bank has deployed its gold reserves as an active currency defence tool. To stabilise domestic markets and protect the lira against severe devaluation, the CBRT offloaded 81 tonnes of gold reserves year-to-date through May 2026. Liquidating and swapping these physical reserves allowed monetary authorities to meet immediate foreign exchange liquidity demands and absorb severe economic volatility without exhausting conventional currency buffers.
India
Despite the country's famous love of gold, India's central bank was slow to buy it for reserves. That changed in late 2009, when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bought 200 tonnes of gold from the IMF − the largest-ever single addition − at a then record high $1045 per ounce. That price later became gold's price floor during the 2012-2015 slump - proof, some analysts say, that India's central bank knows a thing or two about gold.
The RBI then held its reserves unchanged for 8 years, focusing instead on boosting the Rupee's exchange-rate value and building up Dollar and other currency holdings. Indeed, there was discussion about selling or lending some of India's gold to help the central bank defend the Rupee, something it had done two decades earlier.
From late 2017, India resumed buying gold regularly, adding almost 320 tonnes by the end of 2024 to reach the 8th largest gold reserve among central banks worldwide − with over 27% of its total reserves added in just the five years ending December 2024. During this time, India also joined the broader trend of repatriating gold reserves from abroad, bringing more bullion home.
However, that pace of buying has since slowed sharply, with just 0.9 tonnes added between Q1 2025 and Q1 2026. India is notably absent from the WGC's list of active buyers through May 2026 too − a real contrast with Poland, China, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, all of which kept adding steadily over the same months.
Countries doubling their gold reserves
Other countries doubling their gold reserves since the start of 2021 to the start of 2026 include, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Middle Eastern state Qatar. Within Europe, Ireland doubled its stock (albeit to only 12.0 tonnes), while Hungary more than tripled its holdings to 110.0 tonnes and Georgia accumulated 7.1 tonnes from 0. In Africa, major gold producer Ghana more than doubled its holdings, while Zimbabwe built a 4.1-tonne reserve from scratch.
Since the start of 2026 to end May, Central Asia deserves its own mention too: Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have become two of the world's most consistent buyers through 2026, adding 33 tonnes and 20 tonnes respectively in the year to end May − with gold now accounting for 87% and 78% of their total reserves, among the highest ratios held by any central bank anywhere
Russia
As with China, the central bank of Russia is believed to keep all its gold bullion domestically, rather than holding much if any abroad.
Also, like China, there's debate over the true size of Russia's government gold holdings. But on the central bank's official data, Moscow now holds the world's 5th largest national gold hoard after choosing to buy almost 2,000 tonnes for its reserves over the last 20 years.
That gold-buying spree took off as the price of oil and gas – half of Russia's total exports and almost 1/5th of its economic output – began rising in the 'commodity supercycle' of the early 2000s. Boosting Russia's GDP as well as Moscow's tax revenues, the country's trade surplus with the rest of the world also spurred a jump in the central bank's reserves of foreign currency, most of all the US Dollar.
At the same time, President Putin called for the central bank of Russia (CBR) to raise gold's share in its foreign-exchange reserves, and for greater investment into Russia's gold-mining industry. Russia has since risen from 5th to 2nd among producer nations, almost doubling annual mine output by weight.
As a major supplier to the global bullion market, Russia's miners hit trouble when US and EU sanctions struck its banking sector after the 2014 annexation of Crimea, restricting access to international markets to sell their output. Having reported only purchases and no sales between 2007 and 2012, the central bank then accelerated its buying in 2014-2018, paying domestic miners in Rubles for 80% of their output.
Russia's huge gold accumulation means that it accounted for more than one-third of all national central-bank gold buying worldwide since 2004. But Moscow's dominance has since slipped, falling below 2% of net demand over the last 5 years, while China accounted for 20%, India 11%, Poland 18% and Turkey at 12%.
First, that's because other countries began buying gold during the Western financial crisis of the late 2000s. Russia's accumulation then slowed because of the 2020 Covid Crisis, when the plunging price of crude oil hit Moscow's tax revenues and forced the ruble's foreign exchange rate lower. Thirdly, Moscow's war on Ukraine then hit the Russian state's finances and international liquidity reserves as the US, UK and EU authorities have tried to lock it out of the global financial system.
The CBR initially said it wouldn't buy any domestic gold output, but it relented as Western sanctions hit both Russia's mining industry and its own ability to grow its reserves of non-Ruble assets.
That buying streak, however, has now reversed. Through the first five months of 2026, the CBR has been a net seller of gold, offloading 34 tonnes to pay for a trade deficit arising from massive military spending and reduced oil and gas revenues following western trade sanctions. Paired with Turkey's 81 tonnes of year-to-date sales over the same period, Russia and Turkey were the two largest sellers of central-bank gold anywhere in the world in early 2026 − a marked reversal of the two-decade accumulation story.
Why do central banks buy and hold so much gold?
"Gold," says a research paper co-written by monetary historian Barry Eichengreen in 2023 and published by the IMF, "appeals to central-bank reserve managers as a safe haven in periods of economic, financial and geopolitical volatility."
Because those stresses have worsened so far in the 21st Century, gold's appeal has only grown for many central-bank buyers, as you can see on this interactive table (click the column headings to sort the table).
Overall, the total quantity of gold held in national central-bank reserves has increased around 19% by weight over the past 20 years with 89% of central bank reserve managers expecting gold reserves to increase over the next 12 months according to a World Gold Council poll.
How much gold does the UK have?
Securely managed and by the Bank of England, the UK held 310.3 tonnes of gold at the start of 2026, unchanged from 2 decades before. With a population of approximately 69.5 million, this works out to just 4.5 grams of gold per person, a relatively low figure when measured against other leading Western nations.
The United Kingdom's low gold reserves can largely be traced back to that controversial decision made between 1999 and 2002 when the UK government sold more than half of its gold holdings at historically low prices. Instead of accumulating gold, the UK focused its reserve strategy on a diversified basket of foreign currencies and other financial assets, viewing gold more as a hedge than a primary store of value.
Uses of gold FAQs
Gold has been used in jewelry for thousands of years primarily due to its appearance and natural lustre that doesn’t diminish over time due to gold’s inertness and resistance to tarnishing. Pure gold is relatively soft and easy to craft into delicate and intricate pieces and can also be combined or alloyed with different metals to change its colour and hardness.
The global wholesale gold investment market, centred in London deals in the London Good Delivery gold bullion bar. This London Good Delivery bar weighs 400 troy ounces - about 12.4 kilograms - and is about eleven inches long. It is stamped on the top (the larger face) with the manufacturer's name, the weight, and the assayed purity. The minimum specified fineness must be 99.5% pure gold, but improvements in the refining process mean that Good Delivery bars now reach 99.99% purity or higher.
In the UK gold jewelry is subject to Value Added Tax (VAT) at the standard rate of 20%. In the UK gold jewelry is considered a consumer good much like a mobile phone or TV. However, investment grade gold bullion in the form of London Good delivery bars or investment grade coins and small bars can be bought and sold free of VAT.
Since 2010 the percentage of gold used for investing has averaged 29%. 2013 saw the lowest investment percentage at 18% and in 2020 during the Covid pandemic the percentage of investment gold peaked at 49%. If you include Central Banks reserves as gold investment of sorts, then between 2022 and 2024 this reached 23% of gold demand.
Between 2010 and 2024 the percentage of gold used in technology has averaged 8% with little variation over the past decade. In comparison over the past 15 years gold used in jewelry has accounted for 50% of total gold demand.
Central Bank Gold Reserves
Note: These numbers are built from the International Financial Statistics (IFS) reported by national central banks to the IMF for end-December 2025. Not all central banks make regular reports, and BullionVault's table of central-bank gold buying does not include any estimates for 'unreported' purchases (or sales). But it does, where possible, include updates where a central bank has made public statements about its gold reserves which it didn't report to the IMF or which the IMF hasn't published.
