The amount of gold in the world is finite—unlike the amount of money issued by countries’ central banks, which simply depends on those banks’ economic goals. So when the value of a dollar, pound, or euro drops, the corresponding value of gold rises. That makes owning gold a great way to prepare for times of economic uncertainty, and investors and national banks alike buy and hold gold for that reason.
SD Bullion analyzed global data on gold stockpiles from the World Gold Council as well as economic data from Trading Economics to illustrate the distribution of gold held by governments worldwide. World Gold Council data is recent as of the second quarter of 2023.
The United States has more than twice as much gold as is owned by the second-place country, Germany. The size of the country’s current reserves, just shy of 9,000 metric tons, reflects the fact that up through the early 20th century, gold was the standard currency of international trade and exchange—and that during both world wars, European nations bought supplies, weapons, and equipment from the U.S., paying for it with gold.
The U.S.-owned gold is stored in various secure locations around the country, including at Fort Knox, Kentucky, perhaps the most famous gold-storage facility in the world.
Germany, another longtime international trading power, has the second-highest amount of gold. In third place is the International Monetary Fund, which is not a nation, but rather a financial arm of the United Nations that works both to stabilize the global economy and to facilitate international trade. Nations that join the fund must pay into its coffers—and often do so with gold.
But there are other countries with plenty of gold on hand as well. Here are the nine that have the most, plus the IMF, for a global top 10 list. The percentage of national reserves represents how much of a country’s holdings of cash and other assets are in gold. Inflation data is the most recently available data as of August.
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