Which Country Has the Most Gold Reserves?
SD Bullion conducted an analysis of World Gold Council data to ascertain which nations possess the greatest reserves of gold. Our findings shed light on each nation’s pursuits while underscoring gold’s value as an anchor of financial security.
The United States boasts the world’s highest bullion reserves with 8,133.5 tons safely stored at Fort Knox and other iconic sites.
United States
The United States boasts the world’s largest gold reserves. According to estimates by the Treasury Department, America holds 8,133.5 tons of the precious metal stored across various Fort Knox facilities, US Mint facilities, and Federal Reserve banks across its territory.
Although the gold standard has long since been abandoned, many governments continue to hold onto large stocks of precious metal as an economic buffer. They do this partly to help protect their currencies against hyperinflation or other economic shocks; moreover, no independent physical audit has ever taken place to ascertain exactly how much bullion the Treasury actually holds. This lack of certainty raises some eyebrows.
Germany
Germany’s massive gold reserves came to the public’s attention after global financial turmoil began roiling markets in late 2008 and early 2009. To take action against such risks, Germany’s Bundesbank took one of the first steps by disclosing where their gold was stored.
Repatriating its gold from Paris and New York back to Frankfurt has also begun, though no further transfers are planned. Private citizens in Germany also hold significant physical holdings of precious metals – something revealed by a survey commissioned by Reisebank who sell them through over 100 branches around Germany to Raiffeisenbanken (cooperative and savings banks), Landesbanken such as Bayern LB, LBBW and Helaba as well as national and international precious metal dealers.
Australia
Australia is one of the leading gold mining nations and holds considerable reserves. Gold mining activities here have generated substantial reserves that are increasingly sought-after as investors, jewellers and central banks seek a haven during times of economic uncertainty.
Australian Economic Depositable Resources of gold totalled 10 165 tonnes, comprising 19% of global deposits (Table 3). Australia’s EDR are predominantly lode deposits, producing 216 tonnes in 2018.
New discoveries such as Navarre Minerals’ Saint Arnaud project in Victoria and Mincor Resources’ Widgiemooltha deposit in Western Australia should also contribute to Australia’s future gold production. Both deposits contain copper and uranium as well as gold; such multimetallic or “gold-copper” deposits are known by this name.
Canada
Gold is a precious metal found worldwide and should be managed as a limited resource, so it is crucial that each country be aware of their respective holdings of this precious commodity.
This Goldhub dashboard illustrates each nation’s official gold reserves as a percentage of total foreign reserves, collected via IFS and reported by central banks (or other official institutions).
Gold has long been considered an asset of choice among central bankers due to its safety, liquidity and return properties. Yet some nations don’t hold any gold at all or only hold a minimal portion in reserves – for instance Canada being one of the top gold mining countries has no reserves at all despite its vast gold mining activity! One such nation that does not hold gold reserves at all is Canada where none exists whatsoever is held by BoC’s reserves which stand at zero!
Switzerland
Switzerland is an industry hub and global center for bullion vaulting, boasting the eighth-largest official hoard of precious metal in existence. Although late to abandoning its gold standard system, as recently as 1999 its constitution still required that 40% of Swiss franc be backed by precious metal.
Switzerland is well-known for its luxurious private gold purchases from abroad; an estimated 920 tonnes are privately held by Swiss citizens alone.
Due to its stable financial system and long-standing banking tradition, Switzerland provides ideal conditions for gold trading. Furthermore, some of Europe’s largest gold mining operations can be found here, while even more intriguingly the European Central Bank currently holds 504.8 tonnes of the metal!
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