Top 20 Countries With Largest Gold Reserves [Q1 2024] - Forbes India (2024)

FAQs

Top 20 Countries With Largest Gold Reserves [Q1 2024] - Forbes India? ›

In the first half of 2024, central banks purchased 483 tonnes of gold, setting a new record. Turkey was the largest buyer of gold in the first half of this year, acquiring a total of 45 tonnes. India ranked second, purchasing a total of 37 tonnes of gold in the first six months.

In the first half of 2024, central banks purchased 483 tonnes of gold, setting a new record. Turkey was the largest buyer of gold in the first half of this year, acquiring a total of 45 tonnes. India ranked second, purchasing a total of 37 tonnes of gold in the first six months.

The United States holds the world's largest stockpile of gold reserves by a considerable margin of over 8,100 tons. The U.S. government has almost as many reserves as Germany, Italy, and France combined. They are the next three largest gold-holding countries.

Current holdings

As of 2021, the U.S. gold reserves total 8,134 metric tons.

Gold prices in Dubai are cheaper compared to India due to several reasons. One of the reasons for a cheaper gold rate in Dubai is zero GST (goods and services tax) on bullion and gold jewellery, while India imposes 3% GST on gold.

Gold could reach $3,000 per ounce by mid-2025 and $2,600 by the end of 2024 driven by U.S. interest rate cuts, strong demand from exchange traded funds and over-the-counter physical demand, said Aakash Doshi, head of commodities, North America at Citi Research.

Reducing Foreign Storage Costs: Storing gold abroad incurs storage and security costs. To reduce these expenses, the RBI is bringing some of the gold back. Economic Security: Recent incidents, such as Western countries freezing Russian assets, have raised concerns about the security of assets held abroad.

How many gold reserves does Pakistan have? According to Trading Economics, Pakistan has 64.66 metric tonnes of gold reserves, remaining unchanged in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the third quarter of the same year.

India has been a major buyer of gold in recent years, alongside countries such as China and Turkey. The Reserve Bank of India also moved 100 tons of its gold from the UK back to its domestic vaults, the Times of India reported in May.

John Paulson is an American hedge fund manager and billionaire famous for having one of the world's biggest privately owned gold reserves. He's also well known for predicting the 2007 mortgage financial crisis and has made headlines for his mammoth-sized gold holdings through his firm, Paulson & Co.

Which country has the purest gold in the world? ›

Which country has the biggest unmined gold reserves? Australia is thought to have the biggest unmined gold reserves (estimated at 8,400 tonnes), followed by Russia in second place (6,800 tonnes) and South Africa in third place (5,000 tonnes).

Germany has a long history of accumulating gold reserves, with the first gold coins being minted in the country more than 2,000 years ago. The country has continued to acquire gold throughout its history, with the Bundesbank playing a key role in managing and safeguarding the country's gold reserves in the modern era.

The last two years have seen China purchase more than 2,800 tons of gold from overseas locations, which, according to Bloomberg, is more than all the metal that backs exchange-traded funds (ETFs) around the world or about a third of the stockpiles held by the United States' Federal Reserve (the Fed).

Poland, India, and Turkey had the highest demand for gold in the second quarter of 2024, as their purchases of gold greatly outweighed sales. Uzbekistan's net purchases also amounted to over seven tonnes.

Which countries are buying the most gold for their reserves? Russia and China together account for more than 80% of the net central-bank gold demand reported to the International Monetary Fund since 2004.

In 2024, gold prices have soared to record highs, reaching $2,409 per ounce. This surge has been driven, in part, by robust central bank demand—including from emerging markets such as China, India, and Turkey.

In 2022, China topped the list of major gold consuming countries, with consumption amounting to almost 825 metric tons. By comparison, world gold production from mines in 2022 was estimated to have been some 3,000 metric tons.