List of countries by foreign-exchange reserves

Foreign-exchange reserves (also called Forex reserves) are, in a strict sense, only the foreign-currency deposits held by national central banks and monetary authorities (See List of countries by foreign-exchange reserves (excluding gold)). However, in popular usage and in the list below, it also includes gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserve position because this total figure, which is usually more accurately termed as official reserves or international reserves or official international reserves, is more readily available and also arguably more meaningful.

For reserves excluding gold, see List of countries by foreign-exchange reserves (excluding gold).

These foreign-currency deposits are the financial assets of the central banks and monetary authorities that are held in different reserve currencies (e.g. the U.S. dollar, the Euro, the Japanese yen and the Pound sterling) and which are used to back its liabilities (e.g. the local currency issued and the various bank reserves deposited with the Central bank by the government or financial institutions). Before the end of the gold standard, gold was the preferred reserve currency. Some nations are converting foreign-exchange reserves into sovereign wealth funds, which can rival foreign-exchange reserves in size.

The list below is mostly based on the latest available IMF data, and while most nations report in U.S. dollars, a few nations in Eastern Europe report solely in Euros. And since all the figures below are in U.S. dollar equivalents, exchange rate fluctuations can have a significant impact on these figures.

Foreign exchange reserves
Rank
[lower-alpha 1]
Country or regionForeign exchange
reserves
(millions of US$)		Figures as ofChange from previous data
(millions of US$) weekly/monthly
1  China[lower-alpha 2]3,356,529December 2020[1] 46,902
2  Japan1,394,680December 2020[2] 10,065
3   Switzerland1,083,555December 2020[3] 47,024
4  India[lower-alpha 3]590,18529 January 2021[4]  4,852
5  Russia[lower-alpha 4]589,50029 January 2021[5] 3,200
6  Taiwan[lower-alpha 5]529,910December 2020[6] 16,510
7  Hong Kong491,600December 2020[7] 5,900
8  Saudi Arabia[lower-alpha 6]456,869November 2020[8]10,281
9  South Korea436,400November 2020[9] 9,900
10  Singapore362,304December 2020[10] 9,677
11  Brazil355,620December 2020[11] 384
12  Germany[lower-alpha 7]268,890 December 2020[12] 14,572
13  Thailand287,361January 2021[13] 4,641
14  France[lower-alpha 8]224,589 December 2020[14] 11,301
15  Italy[lower-alpha 9]211,014December 2020[15] 11,545
16  Mexico201,287November 2020[16] 2,566
17  United Kingdom186,656December 2020[17] 3,651
18  Israel179,507January 2021[18] 6,210
19  Czech Republic165,756December 2020[19] 3,215
20  Poland157,299January 2021[20] 3,052
21  United States[lower-alpha 10]145,75231 December 2020[21] 3,002
22  Indonesia138,005January 2021[22] 2,108
23  Philippines109,797December 2020[23] 4,982
24  Malaysia107,635December 2020[24] 2,299
25  United Arab Emirates98,090November 2020[25] 417
26  Turkey93.277December 2020[26] 10,583
27  Canada90,428December 2020[27][28] 1,314
28  Vietnam89,355September 2020[25] 533
- European Union (ECB) [lower-alpha 11] [lower-alpha 12]87,212December 2020[29] 1,739
29  Iran[lower-alpha 13]86,000February 2020[30]
30  Spain[lower-alpha 14]81,347December 2020[31] 1,652
31  Denmark77,723November 2020[32][28] 3,189
32  Libya77,198May 2020[25] 2
33  Peru76,75029 December 2020[33] 300
34  Norway74,332November 2020[28] 647
35  Sweden60,9507 December 2020[34] 133
36  Algeria[lower-alpha 15]60,914October 2020[25] 1,454
37  Colombia58,500December 2020[28] 1,785
38  Iraq57,971October 2020[25] 1,092
39  Qatar[lower-alpha 16]56,130November 2020[35] 76
40  Netherlands[lower-alpha 17]53,793December 2020[36] 2,631
41  South Africa53,760November 2020[28] 102
42  Romania52,173December 2020[28] 6,114
43  Kuwait48,122October 2020[25][37] 381
44  Lebanon44,224October 2020[25] 3,278
45  Australia43,002December 2020[38] 417
46  Bangladesh42,973December 2020[39] 1,895
47  Hungary38,990November 2020[28] 3,635
48  Egypt38,972December 2020[40] 749
49  Argentina38,651November 2020[28] 1,205
50  Bulgaria37,858December 2020[28] 3,364
51  Chile37,708November 2020[28] 551
52  Nigeria[lower-alpha 18]36,30414 January 2021[41] 42
53  Belgium33,354December 2020[28] 1,567
54  Uzbekistan32 89212 December 2020[42] 465
55  Kazakhstan32,508November 2020[28] 1,065
56  Morocco32,165November 2020[28] 323
57  Austria30,486December 2020[28] 1,559
58  Portugal29,506December 2020[28] 1,568
59  Ukraine26,137November 2020[28] 3
60  Macau, China24,199November 2020[43] 704
61  Croatia22,154November 2020[28] 957
62  Cambodia20,816November 2020[25] 71
63  Turkmenistan20,600December 2017[30]N/A
64  Guatemala18,244November 2020[28] 66
65  Oman17,328August 2020[25] 979
66  Jordan16,751November 2020[28] 47
67  Uruguay16,519November 2020[44][28] 17
68  Angola15,272October 2020[25] 114
69  Serbia15,249October 2020[25] 45
70  New Zealand13,983November 2020[28] 669
71  Pakistan13,03129 January 2021[45][46] 33
72  Cuba12,80031 December 2017[30]
73  Greece12,269December 2020[28] 1,279
74  Finland[lower-alpha 19]12,095December 2020[47] 475
75    Nepal11,51515 December 2020[48] 83
76  Dominican Republic9,873October 2020[28] 673
77  Afghanistan9,382August 2020[25] 21
78  Slovakia9,267November 2020[28] 173
79  Paraguay8,625November 2020[28] 109
80  Tunisia8,50830 December 2020[49] 29
81  Bosnia and Herzegovina8,241November 2020[25] 218
82  Honduras8,184November 2020[28] 435
83  North Korea8,000November 2013[50]
84  Kenya7,83718 December 2020[51] 12
85  Costa Rica7,809October 2020[52] 429
86  Ireland7,492December 2020[28] 111
87  Belarus7,376November 2020[28] 109
88  Azerbaijan7,127September 2020[25] 139
89  Mauritius6,967November 2020[28] 6
90  Trinidad and Tobago6,953December 2020[53] 187
91  Iceland6,420December 2020[28] 88
92  Venezuela6,330May 2020[54] 2,200
93  Botswana6,1702019[55] 1300
94  Myanmar5,8242019[55] 800
95  Bolivia5,578October 2020[28] 777
96  Sri Lanka5,54930 November 2020[56] 306
97  Latvia5,290December 2020[28] 252
98  Ghana5,060April 2020[57] 2.500
99  Tanzania5,0502018[55] 500
100  Lithuania4,848December 2020[28] 440
101  Albania4,832July 2020[28] 1100
102 Ivory Coast4,68830 December 2017[30]
103  Brunei4,2732019[55] 900
104  North Macedonia4,072September 2020[28] 600
105  El Salvador4,015September 2020[28] 700
106  Jamaica3,905June 2020[28] 300
107 Mozambique3,8882019[55]
108  Georgia3,776October 2020[28] 400
109  Mongolia3,697September 2020[28] 300
110 Cameroon3,4592018[55]
111  Moldova3,453September 2020[28] 500
112  Panama3,4232019[55] 400
113 Bahrain3,41529 February 2020
114 Uganda3,3592018[55]
115  Ecuador3,228August 2020[58] 331
116  Ethiopia2,9932019[55]
117  Kyrgyzstan2,910September 2020[28] 700
118  Nicaragua2,907September 2020[28] 700
119  Armenia2,449September 2020[28] 400
120 Haiti2,3712018[55]
121  Papua New Guinea2,3392019[55] 500
122  Estonia2,216October 2020[28] 900
123  Namibia1,924September 2020[28] 25
124 Bahamas1,7582019[55]
125 Madagascar1,6932019[55]
126 Montenegro1,5292019[55]
127 Tajikistan1,4662019[55]
128 Rwanda1,4652019[55]
129 Zambia1,4492019[55]
130 Guinea1,4182019[55]
131 Gabon1,3212019[55]
132  Cyprus1,271August 2020[28] 200
133 Bhutan1,2382019[55]
134  Slovenia1,217October 2020[28] 200
135 Luxembourg1,191December 2020[28] 34
136 Laos1,0682019[55]
137 Curaçao1,05531 October 2019[59][lower-alpha 20]
138 Fiji1,0432019[55]
139 Niger1,0392015[55]
140 Mauritania1.0292019[55]
141 Aruba9822019[55]
142 Kosovo9652019[55]
143  Malta928October 2020[28] 30
144 Malawi8242019[55]
145 Lesotho7742019[55]
146 Barbados7722019[55]
147 Maldives7622018[55]
148 Cape Verde7372019[55]
149  Palestine683August 2019[28][lower-alpha 21] 50
150 Democratic Republic of the Congo6652018[55]
151 Timor-Leste6562019[55]
152  Suriname6472019[55] 65
153 Mali6242015[55]
154  Guyana5732019[55] 50
155 Solomon Islands5712019[55]
156  Seychelles566September 2020[28] 31
157 Sierra Leone5322019[55]
158 Vanuatu5112019[55]
159 Djibouti5012019[55]
160 San Marino4732019[55]
161 Eswatini4402019[55]
162 Republic of the Congo4232018[55]
163 Syria40731 December 2017[30]
164 Federated States of Micronesia3972019[55]
165 Central African Republic3612018[55]
166 Saint Kitts and Nevis3512018[55]
167 Liberia3492019[55]
168 Guinea-Bissau3322015[55]
169 Antigua and Barbuda2792019[55]
170 Belize2772019[55]
171 Saint Lucia2602019[55]
172 Yemen24531 December 2017[30]
173 Grenada2362019[55]
174 Tonga2292019[55]
175 Togo21531 December 2017[30]
176 Comoros2022019[55]
177 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines1932019[55]
178 Eritrea1912019[55]
179 Gambia1912018[55]
180 Samoa1852019[55]
181 Sudan1772017[55]
182 Dominica1662019[55]
183 Senegal15231 December 2017[30]
184 Chad1472018[55]
185 Zimbabwe1512019[55]
186 Burundi1112019[55]
187 South Sudan682016[55]
188 Benin6031 December 2017[30]
189 Montserrat4931 December 2017[30]
190 Equatorial Guinea482018[55]
191 Burkina Faso4531 December 2017[30]
192 São Tomé and Príncipe472019[55]
193 Somalia3230 December 2017[30]
194 Kiribati731 December 2017[30]

Timeline of the top 5 countries

The five countries with the largest foreign exchange reserves almost all have reserves of at least 500 billion USD and higher and have maintained such an amount for at least a week. At present there are only six countries whose reserves are at such a figure; this includes China, Japan, India, Switzerland, Russia and Taiwan. Saudi Arabia formerly included on the list until March 2020; its reserves were severely depleted by the low oil price during the economic fallout of from the global outbreak of coronavirus disease, its ongoing oil price war with Russia and competition from US shale oil.[61]

The images below shows the timeline of their reserves since the earliest available forex data. The list is in accordance to their respective positions.

China

Foreign Exchange Reserves of China

The foreign-exchange reserves of China are the greatest of all countries and been so for more than 14 years.[62][63] The main composition of Chinese forex reserves is approximately two-thirds USD and one-fifth Euros with the rest made up of Japanese Yen and the British Pound. China is also the only country that has ever had net reserves greater than $4 trillion.

Japan

Foreign Exchange Reserves of Japan

Japanese foreign exchange reserves are the second biggest reserves in the world. Japan was the first country to reach $500 billion in reserves and had the highest forex reserves in the world until they were surpassed by China in 2006. Since 2006 they have remained in second place with over $1 trillion, being only the second country to surpass such an amount.[64]

Switzerland

Foreign Exchange Reserves of Switzerland in CHF

Swiss forex reserves are the third biggest reserves in the world and reached $500 Billion in 2014 becoming fifth country to do so after Saudi Arabia. Swiss reserves are compiled in Swiss franc. The high reserves are mainly because of their historic high net trade surplus.

India

Foreign Exchange Reserves of India

The Foreign-exchange reserves of India became the fourth largest on 5th Feb 2021 after the Reserve Bank of India released its weekly bulletin. On 5th Feb 2021 reserves exceeded $590.185 billion for the first time and they became the sixth country after Switzerland to do so.[65] During the 1991 Indian economic crisis country only had $5 billion of reserves left which led to subsequent economic liberalisation. Since then the reserves had seen a 10,000% increase in under 30 years. India surpassed Russia recently.[66]

Russia

Foreign Exchange Reserves of Russia

Russian reserves are the world's fifth biggest; they were the third country to reach $500 billion.[67] The first fall in reserves was because of the 2008 financial crisis, the second fall in 2015 was due to sanctions imposed by the European Union following the Russian annexation of the Crimea.

Currency composition of foreign exchange reserves

IMF releases the quarterly data on the currency composition of official foreign exchange reserves. The data are reported to the IMF on a voluntary and confidential basis. As of Q4 2016, there are 146 reporters, consisting of IMF member countries, a number of non-member countries/economies, and other entities holding foreign exchange reserves. From Q4 2016, the data was expanded to include renminbi (RMB).[68] Monetary gold is not covered in COFER but included in reserved assets, a broader scope than that of COFER.[69]

Currency Composition of Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER)
(US Dollars, billions)[68]
No.CurrencyQ4 2016Q1 2017Q2 2017Q3 2017Q4 2017Q1 2018Q2 2018Q3 2018Q4 2018Q1 2019Q2 2019Q3 2019Q4 2019Q1 2020
1USD5,501.985,713.355,909.136,124.736,280.616,530.876,560.786,632.156,617.846,727.096,752.286,728.856,674.836,794.91
2EUR1,610.871,703.131,847.191,933.682,019.252,117.572,129.412,192.432,219.342,208.792,264.882,212.742,279.302,197.30
3JPY332.93399.85427.79435.67491.01477.28511.52532.94558.36584.63611.87612.75631.00624.97
4GBP365.85377.89409.48434.08454.12486.13469.86481.10475.45495.70497.41492.22511.51486.08
5RMB90.7895.42100.00108.37123.47145.67192.75192.38202.79212.26212.80213.83215.81221.48
6CAD163.14167.49178.77192.85202.80193.29200.22208.74197.76208.64209.85205.44206.71195.13
7AUD142.30156.28162.31171.22180.01176.96178.61180.91174.21181.95186.71182.48187.18170.16
8CHF13.6914.4515.6016.3118.0917.9317.1817.1815.8615.2715.5316.2017.3616.05
Other currencies199.51208.28209.55228.81244.69256.46254.62269.60266.07263.50270.56262.92281.50255.53
Unallocated Reserves2,293.612,063.281,859.041,650.321,430.361,201.40951.69692.22690.55712.93715.88729.40749.55770.32
Total10,714.6810,899.4211,118.8611,296.0511,444.4111,603.5711,466.6311,399.6611,418.2411,610.7711,737.7611,656.8211,824.7411,731.94

See also

Notes
  1. increment & decrement icon of countries resets at end of month or till specific country releases its forex reserve data.
  2. Excluding figures for Hong Kong and Macau.
  3. Indian reports are released on a weekly basis rather than the traditional monthly basis with the figures being of the previous week.
  4. Russian Federation release weekly data of its reserves instead of monthly data.
  5. Formally known as the Republic of China
  6. Amount calculated on 30 November 2020 when 1sar : 0.266613 usd.
  7. Amount calculated on 31 December 2020 when 1 Euro : 1.227097 USD
  8. Amount calculated on 31 December 2020 when 1 Euro : 1.227097 USD
  9. Amount calculated on 31 December 2020 when 1 Euro : 1.227097 USD
  10. Includes 261.499 million fine troy ounces of gold valued at a fixed price of $42.2222 per fine troy ounce
  11. Not to be confused over 'Eurozone' ECB is the common bank of European countries that have opted for Euro as their common currency but eurozone includes the total amount of foreign reserves held by the different European countries central bank and provides collective data of all European members.
  12. Amount calculated on 31 December 2020 when 1 Euro : 1.227097 USD
  13. The Iranian government does not report the foreign exchange reserves as a matter of policy and all figures are estimates calculated by international or foreign institutes, which are occasionally endorsed by Iranian officials without disclosing the exact numbers.
  14. Amount calculated on 31 December 2020 when 1 Euro: 1.227078 USD.
  15. Including gold reserves valued @ $1,878.67 per fine troy ounce calculated on 30 October 2020
  16. Amount calculated on 30 November 2020 when 1 Qatari Riyal: 0.274592 USD
  17. Amount calculated on 31 December 2020 when 1 Euro: 1.227078 USD
  18. Nigeria's number is of 30-day moving average.
  19. Amount calculated on 31 December 2020 when 1 Euro : 1.227097 USD
  20. Figure reported in NAf (ANG), and derived using currency peg of 1USD to 1.79ANG[60].
  21. Name in IMF data is "West Bank and Gaza".

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