I read about CNBC’s report “The World’s Biggest Gold Reserves“. It was reported that “The biggest individual holders of gold—central banks, international entities and governments—are believed to account for approximately 16.5 percent of the world’s gold, holding about 30,160 tons.” CNBC in turn got the figures from World Gold Council. I was pretty surprised by some of the countries listed as the biggest holders of gold.

1. United States (8,965.6 tonnes)
2. Germany (3,747.9 tonnes, 71.7% of foreign reserves)
3. International Monetary Fund (3,101.3 tonnes)
4. Italy (2,701.9 tonnes, 71.4% of foreign reserves)
5. France (2,683.8 tonnes, 66.1% of foreign reserves)
6. China (1,161.6 tonnes, 1.6% of foreign reserves)
7. Switzerland (1,146.2 tonnes, 17.6% of foreign reserves)
8. Russia (915.2 tonnes, 7.8% of foreign reserves)
9. Japan (843.3 tonnes, 3.3% of foreign reserves)
10. Holland (674.9 tonnes, 59.4% of ...

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