A Guide to the Loco London Precious Metals Market
22. Central Bank and Governmental
There is a great deal of interest in the precious metals holdings of governments and central banks. Central banks generally report their holdings to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a monthly basis.
The Bank of England in springtime
However, Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) and other government entities may not be required to report in the same way. So, where these holdings might exist, they are likely to be additional to the figures below.
The information on page 78 and 79 was updated in February 2017 by the World Gold Council and data reports available at that time. Data is taken from the International Monetary Fund’s International Financial Statistics (IFS), February 2017 edition, and other sources where applicable. IFS data is two months in arrears, so holdings are as of December 2016 for most countries, and November 2016 or earlier for late reporters. The table does not list all gold holders: countries which have not reported their gold holdings to the IMF in the last six months are not included, while other countries are known to hold gold but do not report their holdings publicly. Where the WGC knows of movements that are not reported to the IMF or misprints, changes have been made.
World Official Gold Holdings
International Financial Statistics, February 2017
| Tonnes | % of reserves* | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 8,133.5 | 73.8% |
| 2 | Germany | 3,377.9 | 67.6% |
| 3 | IMF | 2,814.0 | |
| 4 | Italy | 2,451.8 | 66.8% |
| 5 | France | 2,435.8 | 61.5% |
| 6 | China | 1,842.6 | 2.2% |
| 7 | Russia | 1,615.2 | 15.2% |
| 8 | Switzerland | 1,040.0 | 5.6% |
| 9 | Japan | 765.2 | 2.3% |
| 10 | Netherlands | 612.5 | 62.8% |
| 11 | India | 557.8 | 5.7% |
| 12 | ECB | 504.8 | 25.6% |
| 13 | Taiwan | 423.6 | 3.5% |
| 14 | Portugal | 382.5 | 56.4% |
| 15 | Turkey | 377.1 | 13.1% |
| 16 | Saudi Arabia | 322.9 | 2.2% |
| 17 | United Kingdom | 310.3 | 8.5% |
| 18 | Lebanon | 286.8 | 19.8% |
| 19 | Spain | 281.6 | 16.5% |
| 20 | Austria | 280.0 | 44.4% |
| 21 | Kazakhstan | 258.1 | 32.1% |
| 22 | Belgium | 227.4 | 35.7% |
| 23 | Philippines | 196.3 | 8.9% |
| 24 | Venezuela | 187.5 | 63.5% |
| 25 | Algeria | 173.6 | 5.1% |
| 26 | Thailand | 152.4 | 3.3% |
| 27 | Singapore | 127.4 | 1.9% |
| 28 | Sweden | 125.7 | 7.8% |
| 29 | South Africa | 125.3 | 9.9% |
| 30 | Mexico | 120.5 | 2.5% |
| 31 | Libya | 116.6 | 5.9% |
| 32 | Greece | 112.8 | 60.7% |
| 33 | Korea | 104.4 | 1.0% |
| 34 | BIS | 104.0 | |
| 35 | Romania | 103.7 | 9.6% |
| 36 | Poland | 103.0 | 3.3% |
| 37 | Iraq | 89.8 | 7.0% |
| 38 | Australia | 79.9 | 5.3% |
| 39 | Kuwait | 79.0 | 8.3% |
| 40 | Indonesia | 78.1 | 2.6% |
| 41 | Egypt | 75.6 | 15.3% |
| 42 | Brazil | 67.3 | 0.7% |
| 43 | Denmark | 66.5 | 3.8% |
| 44 | Pakistan | 64.5 | 10.8% |
| 45 | Argentina | 56.8 | 5.4% |
| 46 | Finland | 49.1 | 17.3% |
| 47 | Belarus | 46.2 | 34.7% |
| 48 | Bolivia | 42.5 | 15.2% |
| 49 | Bulgaria | 40.3 | 5.9% |
| 50 | Jordan | 38.3 | 9.7% |
| 51 | Malaysia | 38.3 | 1.5% |
| 52 | WAEMU3 | 36.5 | 10.8% |
| 53 | Peru | 34.7 | 2.1% |
| 54 | Qatar | 32.2 | 3.4% |
| 55 | Slovakia | 31.7 | 40.5% |
| 56 | Syria | 25.8 | 5.4% |
| 57 | Ukraine | 25.5 | 6.0% |
| 58 | Sri Lanka | 22.3 | 15.9% |
| 59 | Morocco | 22.0 | 3.2% |
| 60 | Azerbaijan | 22.0 | 12.5% |
| 61 | Afghanistan | 21.9 | 11.3% |
| 62 | Nigeria | 21.4 | 2.5% |
| 63 | Serbia | 18.6 | 6.6% |
| 64 | Tajikistan | 14.4 | 80.5% |
| 65 | Cyprus | 13.9 | 63.0% |
| 66 | Bangladesh | 13.8 | 1.6% |
| 67 | Cambodia | 12.4 | 5.1% |
| 68 | Mauritius | 12.4 | 9.2% |
| 69 | Ecuador | 11.8 | 11.3% |
| 70 | Czech Republic | 9.8 | 0.4% |
| 71 | Ghana | 8.7 | 7.0% |
| 72 | Paraguay | 8.2 | 4.4% |
| 73 | United Arab Emirates | 7.6 | 0.4% |
| 74 | Myanmar | 7.3 | 3.6% |
| 75 | Guatemala | 6.9 | 2.8% |
| 76 | Macedonia | 6.9 | 9.2% |
| 77 | Tunisia | 6.8 | 3.4% |
| 78 | Latvia | 6.6 | 6.9% |
| 79 | Nepal | 6.1 | 2.7% |
| 80 | Ireland | 6.0 | 6.2% |
| 81 | Lithuania | 5.8 | 8.2% |
| 82 | Colombia | 5.3 | 0.4% |
| 83 | Bahrain | 4.7 | 2.9% |
| 84 | Kyrgyz Republic | 4.6 | 8.6% |
| 85 | Mozambique | 4.4 | 7.6% |
| 86 | Brunei Darussalam | 3.8 | 3.9% |
| 87 | Slovenia | 3.2 | 15.8% |
| 88 | Aruba | 3.1 | 12.1% |
| 89 | Hungary | 3.1 | 0.4% |
| 90 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3.0 | 2.1% |
| 91 | Luxembourg | 2.2 | 8.5% |
| 92 | Hong Kong | 2.1 | 0.0% |
| 93 | Iceland | 2.0 | 1.0% |
| 94 | Papua New Guinea | 2.0 | 4.4% |
| 95 | Trinidad and Tobago | 1.9 | 0.7% |
| 96 | Haiti | 1.8 | 3.1% |
| 97 | Mongolia | 1.7 | 4.9% |
| 98 | Albania | 1.6 | 2.0% |
| 99 | Yemen | 1.6 | 1.1% |
| 100 | El Salvador | 1.4 | 1.6% |
| Other | Tonnes | % of reserves* | |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | World | 33,259.2 | |
| - | Euro Area (incl. ECB) | 10,786.0 | 53.6% |
| - | CBGA 4 signatories5 | 11,951.8 | 29.7% |
*The percentage share held in gold of total foreign reserves, as calculated by the World Gold Council. The value of gold holdings is calculated using the end-of-month LBMA Gold Price published daily by ICE Benchmark Administration. In December 2016 the end-of-month gold price was $1145.90. Data for the value of other reserves is taken from IFS, table ‘Total Reserves minus Gold’.