Central Bank Gold Reserves Tracker

Most reserves sit in foreign currency bonds and deposits. Each of those is a claim on another government or bank, and it can be frozen through the payment system that holds it. Gold held at home is nobody's liability. That property became central to reserve policy after Russian currency reserves were immobilised in 2022.

According to the World Gold Council, central banks bought more than 1,000 tonnes of gold in each of 2022, 2023 and 2024, roughly double the average of the previous decade. Buying has been led by emerging market central banks whose gold share of reserves is still low compared with Europe and the United States.

Other motives are diversification away from any single reserve currency, long run protection of purchasing power, and confidence. A reserve stock that holds value in a currency crisis supports the domestic currency itself.

Central banks buy on multi year allocation targets, not on price levels. That makes official demand one of the few flows in gold that does not chase momentum or flee on drawdowns. It is a structural bid under the market, which helps explain why gold has at times rallied while real yields and the dollar were also rising. Compare the real yield tracker and the gold and DXY correlation to see when the usual macro relationships weakened.

For a trader the reading is context, not timing. Data lands weeks after the month closes, and a strong year of buying says nothing about where the next liquidity sweep or displacement leg forms. Use it to frame long term bias, then execute from structure on the chart.

Tonnes is the latest reported volume. 1M, YTD and 12M compare it with the previous month, the previous December and the same month a year earlier. A change of zero usually means no transactions, though small changes can also come from coin programmes or gold swaps.

Gold share is the market value of gold divided by total official reserve assets. Because the gold price has risen, many countries now show a higher gold share without buying a single ounce.

Book value marks reporters that carry gold at a statutory or historical price, such as the US Treasury at $42.22 per ounce. Their volume is correct, and their gold share is restated at market.

Figures are read from the IMF reserves template every few hours and refreshed when national authorities file a new month. If the IMF service is unavailable the page keeps showing the last good dataset. Reporting lags differ by country, so always read the As of column.

Holders that do not file this template, including Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Iraq and Qatar, are not listed rather than estimated. Values filed in an inconsistent unit are corrected only when the reported dollar value confirms the scale, and filings that cannot be reconciled are left out. The euro area total is excluded because it would double count its national central banks.