Top 10 Countries With the Biggest Forex Reserves

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China holds the largest forex reserves of any country, with $3.75 trillion in total reserves including gold. That is about 2.7 times the United States, which ranks second at $1.39 trillion. Japan is a close third at $1.37 trillion, and Switzerland is the only other country above $1 trillion. India ranks fifth with $700.1 billion.

The ranking uses World Bank data on total reserves including gold, valued in US dollars. That choice determines the order. A ranking built only on foreign currency holdings puts different countries in the top 10, and the gap between the two methods explains most of the differences readers see between published lists.

What the Ranking Measures

Under the IMF’s definition, official reserves are external assets that a country’s monetary authority controls and can use for three purposes: to finance balance of payments needs, to influence the exchange rate, and for related purposes. The World Bank total used here combines four components:

• Foreign exchange holdings: deposits and securities in other currencies, mostly government bonds. The US dollar is the dominant currency in global reserves, followed by the euro and the Japanese yen.
• Monetary gold: gold owned by the central bank or treasury, valued at market prices.
• Special drawing rights (SDRs): the IMF’s reserve asset, allocated to member countries and exchangeable for currencies among members.
• Reserve position in the IMF: the part of a country’s IMF quota it can draw on without conditions.

Two features of this measure affect how the countries compare.

First, everything is converted to US dollars. A country’s reserve figure can rise or fall without any buying or selling. If the euro or yen weakens against the dollar, euro and yen assets are worth fewer dollars. If gold rises, gold-heavy holders gain on paper.

Second, the figures are not all from the same year. Most are for 2025, but Russia’s is for 2024 and Hong Kong’s is for 2023. Sums that include them are therefore approximate, such as the top 10 combined total or Hong Kong added to mainland China. Where the gap between neighbors is small, the year difference can decide the order.

Why This List Differs From Foreign Currency Rankings

Many published lists rank countries by foreign currency reserves alone, using IMF data. On that basis, Hong Kong and Singapore usually appear in the top 10. The United States and the United Kingdom do not. As of November 2024, US foreign currency reserves were about $241 billion, held mostly in euros and yen. The UK’s were about $223 billion.

Including gold reshapes the order:

• The United States has the largest official gold holdings in the world. Gold and IMF-related assets make up the bulk of its total, so it moves from outside the top 10 to second place.
• Germany and Italy hold the second- and third-largest national gold reserves. Gold is the main reason both rank in the top 10 here.
• Singapore and Hong Kong, whose reserves are mostly foreign currency, drop to 11th and 13th.

Neither method is wrong. Each answers a different question. Foreign currency reserves show what a central bank can deploy directly and quickly in currency markets. Total reserves show the full stock of official external assets, including gold that can be sold, lent or pledged but is not usually used for day-to-day intervention.

Size vs. Share of GDP

The ranking orders countries by absolute size. Reserves as a share of GDP give a second view: their size relative to the economy.

Read this way, the leaders look very different. US reserves equal 4.5% of GDP, the lowest share in the top 10. Switzerland’s reserves exceed its entire GDP at 103.1%. Hong Kong (99.6%) and Singapore (71.6%) also hold reserves that are very large relative to their economies. Japan stands at 30.9%, China at 19.2% and India at 17.7%.

Economists usually judge whether reserves are adequate with ratios that neither measure shows directly:

• Import cover: how many months of imports reserves could pay for. Three months is a traditional minimum benchmark for emerging economies.
• The Greenspan-Guidotti rule: reserves should at least cover external debt due within the next 12 months.
• The IMF’s reserve adequacy metric, which weighs exports, broad money, short-term debt and other liabilities.

A country with a modest share of GDP can still be well protected if its currency floats freely and its debt is mostly in its own currency. A country with a high share may need that cushion because it runs a peg.

Entries Where the Data Shows a Real Difference

China

China’s lead is the widest gap anywhere in the ranking. Its reserves account for roughly 35% of the top 10 combined total of about $10.85 trillion.

The pile comes from China’s long run as a net exporter. Much of its trade is settled in US dollars. Exporters receive dollars and convert them into yuan through the banking system, and the banks settle those dollars with the People’s Bank of China. The central bank has historically invested a large part of the dollars in US government securities, which are treated as among the safest and most liquid assets available.

Hong Kong appears separately because it has its own currency and monetary authority. Adding its $425.6 billion to mainland China’s $3.75 trillion gives roughly $4.2 trillion.

United States

The US issues the world’s main reserve currency and can pay for imports and service its debt in dollars, so it has far less need for foreign currency than other countries. Its second place reflects the size of its gold and IMF holdings, not a policy of accumulating foreign exchange.

Japan and Switzerland

Japan and Switzerland both hold large reserves for the same reason: their central banks have intervened in currency markets on a large scale, though at different times and in different directions.

Japan’s reserves, mostly in foreign currency, have been built up over decades. The Ministry of Finance has used them both to slow yen strength and, in 2022, to support a weakening yen.

Switzerland’s position is unusual for its size. The Swiss National Bank bought foreign currency heavily to restrain the franc, a traditional safe-haven currency. That included a minimum rate of 1.20 francs per euro from 2011 to 2015. Those purchases are why its reserves exceed its GDP.

India

India ranks fifth at $700.1 billion, equal to 17.7% of GDP. The Reserve Bank of India buys and sells foreign currency to limit excess volatility in the rupee rather than to defend a fixed rate. India runs a trade deficit. Its reserves serve mainly as a buffer for import bills and capital outflows, not as the product of export surpluses.

Russia

Russia’s figure of $608.4 billion overstates what the Bank of Russia can actually use. After the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the US, the European Union and other countries imposed sanctions that immobilized a large part of Russia’s reserves held abroad. The number records ownership, not access, so Russia’s rank says less about its usable buffer than any other entry.

Germany and Italy

As eurozone members, Germany and Italy do not run their own exchange rate policy. Monetary policy is set for the whole euro area, and the euro floats. Their high ranks rest largely on gold, built up over decades. Germany’s figure equals 11.3% of GDP and Italy’s 17.0%. France (12th) follows a similar pattern.

Saudi Arabia and South Korea

Saudi Arabia’s reserves, at 39.6% of GDP, support the riyal’s peg to the US dollar, fixed at 3.75 riyals per dollar since 1986. Oil export revenue is the main source of inflows.

South Korea, at 23.3% of GDP, rebuilt and enlarged its reserves after the 1997 Asian financial crisis drained them.

Why Countries Hold Foreign Reserves

Exchange rate management. A central bank can sell reserves to support its currency or buy foreign currency to weaken it. Pegged and managed currencies, such as the Hong Kong dollar under its currency board link to the US dollar since 1983, need deep reserves to stay credible.

Paying for imports and debt. Reserves let a country keep paying for essentials such as fuel and food, and keep servicing foreign currency debt, if export earnings or capital inflows dry up.

Crisis response and confidence. Large reserves give a central bank room to act during a crisis. They also reassure investors and lenders, which can lower borrowing costs.

FAQs

The Bottom Line

Anyone comparing reserve rankings should check whether a list counts gold, because that choice moves the US, Germany and Italy into the top 10 and pushes Singapore and Hong Kong out. Total reserves show the full stock of official external assets. Judging how well a country is protected also calls for share of GDP, import cover and short-term debt, since a modest share can be adequate under a floating currency.