Contents

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 reservesorinternational reservesorofficial international reserves, is more readily available and also arguably more meaningful.

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 governmentorfinancial 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 [a]	Country or region	Foreign exchange reserves (Millions of US$)	Figures as of	Change from previous data(millions of US$) weekly/monthly
1	China[b]	3,101,692	May 2020[1]	10,241
2	Japan	1,378,239	May 2020[2]	9,672
3	Switzerland	848,398[c]	May 2020[3][4]	15,911
4	Russia	568,300	26 June 2020[5]	500
5	India	506,838	26 June 2020[6][d]	1,272
6	Taiwan[e]	484,520	May 2020[7]	2,738
7	Saudi Arabia	445,000[f]	May 2020[8]	800
8	Hong Kong	442,300	May 2020[9]	1,100
9	South Korea	410,800	June 2020[10]	3,500
10	Brazil	345,706	May 2020[11]	6,389
11	Singapore	300,991	May 2020[12]	982
12	Germany	245,055	April 2020[13]	10,628
13	France	237,831	April 2020[14]	40,565
14	Thailand	237,246	May 2020 [15]	1,537
15	Mexico	196,146	April 2020[16]	6,366
16	Italy	190,217	April 2020[17]	8,823
17	United Kingdom	179,225	May 2020[18]	849
18	Czech Republic	146,804	March 2020[19]	183
19	Israel	142,510	May 2020[20]	8,971
20	Indonesia	130,544	May 2020[21]	3,336
21	United States[g]	129,264	March 2020[22]	1,739
22	Poland	112,943	March 2020[23]	458
23	United Arab Emirates	106,463	March 2020[24]	3,092
24	Malaysia	102,484	April 2020[25]	781
25	Philippines	88,996	March 2020[26]	809
26	Canada	87,322	May 2020[27]	1,222
27	Turkey	86,343	April 2020[28]	5,802
28	Iran[h]	86,000	February 2020[29]	N/A
29	Vietnam	81,145	January 2020[30]	3,191
-	Europe (ECB)[i]	79,240	April 2020[31]	3,900
30	Spain	74,037	March 2020[32]	420
31	Libya[j]	71,629	September 2017[33]	N/A
32+2	Norway	69,139	March 2020[34][35]	4,931
33	Peru	68,150	March 2020[36][37]	1,933
34  -3	Algeria	62,000	February 2020[38]	10,600
35+2	Australia	55,922	March 2020[39]	1,383
36+4	Colombia	55,000	May 2020[40]	2,430
37	Sweden	54,648	March 2020[41]	1,455
38  -3	Denmark	54,251	March 2020[42]	8,313
39	Lebanon	53,100	31 December 2017[29]
40	South Africa	53,003	April 2020[43]	576
41	Azerbaijan	47,500	April 2019[44]
42	Iraq	47,020	31 December 2017[29]
43	Netherlands	44,859	March 2020[45]	80
44	Romania	42,654	March 2020[46]	1,910
45	Kuwait	40,600	February 2020[47]	203
46	Argentina	39,189	February 2020[48]	317
47	Qatar	37,729	February 2020[49][50]	430
48	Bulgaria	36,991	March 2020[51]	300
49	Chile	36,777	March 2020[52]	1,879
50	Nigeria	36,563	June 2020[53][k]	2,673
51	Egypt	36,254	April 2020[54]	3,039
52	Bangladesh	35,090	24 June 2020[55]	760
53	Kazakhstan	29,967	March 2020[51]	76
54	Belgium	29,676	March 2020[51]	46
55	Hungary	28,209	March 2020[51]	988
56	Portugal	27,053	March 2020[51]	1,671
57	Austria	26,443	March 2020[51]	557
58	Ukraine	25,400	June 2020[51]	300
59	Morocco	24,644	February 2020[51]	326
60+3	New Zealand	23,897	March 2020[51]	4,959
61	Macau, China	22,430	April 2020[56]	391
62	Croatia	21,304	February 2020[51]	430
63	Turkmenistan	20,600	December 2017[29]	N/A
64	Jordan	17,267	March 2020[51]	129
65	Angola	17,012	June 2019[57][58][l]
66	Uzbekistan	16,000	31 December 2017[29]	N/A
67	Oman	15,867	February 2020[51]	469
68+3	Uruguay	15,340	April 2020[59]	1,100
69	Guatemala	14,511	September 2019[51]
70	Serbia	14,515	September 2019[m]
71	Cambodia	13,886	2018[60]
72	Cuba	12,800	31 December 2017[29]
73	Kenya	12,766	January 2020[60]
74	Pakistan	11,231	26 June 2020 [61]	1270
75	Finland	10,750	April 2020[62]	394
76	Greece	9,798	April 2020[63]	670
77+4	Paraguay	8,541	April 2020[64]	800
78  -1	Nepal	8,180	April 2020[65]	490
79	North Korea	8,000	November 2013[66]
80	Belarus	7,883	April 2020[62]	1311
81	Afghanistan	7,800	30 March 2019[67]
82	Dominican Republic	7,591	September 2019[62]
83	Ghana	7,555	31 December 2017[29]
84	Sri Lanka	7,525	24 April 2020[68]
85	Slovakia	7,524	April 2020[62]
86	Costa Rica	7,482	September 2019[62]
87	Botswana	7,476	31 December 2017[29]
88	Mauritius	7,217	September 2019[62]
89	Trinidad and Tobago	7,103	October 2019[69]
90	Iceland	6,776	October 2019[62]
91-12	Bolivia	6,467	January 2020[70]	2,000
92-14	Venezuela	6,330	May 2020[71]	2,200
93	Ireland	5,644	October 2019[62]
94	Tunisia	5,540	October 2019[62]
95+5	Ecuador	5,377	April 2020[72]	431
96	Bosnia and Herzegovina	5,370	31 December 2017[29]
97	Myanmar	5,032	31 December 2017[29][n]
98	Honduras	5,005	July 2019[62]
99	El Salvador	4,735	September 2019[62]
100	Ivory Coast	4,688	31 December 2017[29]
101	Latvia	4,498	September 2019[62]
102	Lithuania	4,481	October 2019[62]
103	Tanzania	4,174	31 December 2017[29]
104	Mongolia	3,986	September 2019[62]
105	Panama	3,888	31 December 2017[29]
106	Albania	3,724	October 2019[62]
107	Jamaica	3,605	March 2019[62]
108	North Macedonia	3,420	September 2019[62]
109	Bahrain	3,415	29 February 2020[citation needed]
110	Brunei	3,407	2018[60]
111	Georgia	3,387	October 2019[62]
112	Ethiopia	3,147	31 December 2017[29]
113	Uganda	3,045	31 December 2017[29]
114	Moldova	2,942	September 2019[62]
115	Armenia	2,840	December 2019[73]
116	Zambia	2,426	31 December 2017[29]
117	Cameroon	2,357	31 December 2017[29]
118	Kyrgyzstan	2,203	September 2019[62]
119	Nicaragua	2,201	August 2019[62]
120	Mozambique	2,193	31 December 2017[29]
121	Haiti	2,044	31 December 2017[29]
122	Namibia	1,949	31 December 2017[29]
123	Papua New Guinea	1,800	31 December 2017[29]
124	Madagascar	1,740	2018[60]
125	Bahamas	1,414	2017[60]
126	Estonia	1,352	October 2019[62]
127	Tajikistan	1,284	2018[60]
128	Montenegro	1,261	2018[60]
129	Guinea	1,225	2018[60]
130	Luxembourg	1,070	October 2019[62]
131	Curaçao	1,055	31 October 2019[74][o]
132	Niger	1,039	2015[60][failed verification]
133	Cyprus	1,034	October 2019[62]
134	Rwanda	1,026	31 December 2017[29]
135	Slovenia	1,022	October 2019[62]
136	Laos	990	31 December 2017[29]
137	Aruba	980	2018[60]
138	Bhutan	987	2018[60]
139	Lesotho	983	31 December 2017[29]
140	Fiji	967	31 December 2017[29]
141	Mauritania	934	2018[60]
142	Malta	890	October 2019[62]
143	Kosovo	881	2018[60]
144	Gabon	835	31 December 2017[29]
145	Republic of the Congo	813	31 December 2017[29]
146	Malawi	760	2018[60]
147	Maldives	722	2018[60]
148	Timor-Leste	674	2018[60]
149	Palestine	632	August 2019[62][p]
150	Mali	624	2015[60][failed verification]
151	Solomon Islands	617	2018[60]
152	Cape Verde	606	2018[60]
153	Seychelles	535	September 2019[62]
154	Guyana	518	2018[60]
155	Sierra Leone	503	2018[60]
156	Suriname	581	2018[60]
157	Liberia	475	2017[60]
158	Djibouti	454	2018[60]
159	Democratic Republic of the Congo	445	31 December 2017[29]
160	Eswatini	441	2018[60]
161	Vanuatu	421	2018[60]
162	Equatorial Guinea	416	31 December 2017[29]
163	Syria	407	31 December 2017[29]
164	Antigua and Barbuda	389	2018[60]
165	Saint Kitts and Nevis	363	2018[60]
166	Central African Republic	362	2018[60]
167	San Marino	339	2018[60]
168	Guinea-Bissau	332	2015[60][failed verification]
169	Belize	294	2018[60]
170	Saint Lucia	286	2018[60]
171	Tonga	277	2018[60]
172	Eritrea	237	31 December 2017[29]
173	Grenada	234	2018[60]
174	Togo	215	31 December 2017[29]
175	Barbados	205	31 December 2017[29]
176	Yemen	245	31 December 2017[29]
177	Sudan	178	2017[60]
178	Federated States of Micronesia	204	2017[60]
179	Comoros	199	2018[60]
180	Gambia	192	2018[60]
181	Dominica	191	2018[60]
182	Samoa	170	2018[60]
183	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	170	2018[60]
184	Senegal	152	31 December 2017[29]
185	Chad	148	2018[60]
186	Zimbabwe	87	2018[60]
187	South Sudan	68	2016[60]
188	Burundi	68	2018[60]
189	Benin	60	31 December 2017[29]
190	Montserrat	49	31 December 2017[29]
191	Burkina Faso	45	31 December 2017[29]
192	São Tomé and Príncipe	47	2018[60]
193	Somalia	32	30 December 2017[29]
194	Kiribati	7	31 December 2017[29]

Top 5 Countries & Their Timeline

These are the top 5 countries in above list & almost all of them have reserves of 500 billion USD or above & have maintained that spot for atleast a week. Currently there are only five countries whose reserves are above half trillion which includes China, Japan, Russia, Switzerland & India being the latest to achieve this feat. While Saudi Arabia being the former country until March 2020 when it saw the fastest fall in 20 years amid covid 19 outbreak.^[76]

The images below shows the timeline of their reserves over the years since their first compilation of forex data.The list is in accordance to their respective entry in this club.

China

Foreign-exchange reserves of China are the biggest of all the countries and have maintained the top spot for over 14 years.^[77][78]The main composition of chinese forex reserves are of approx. two-third USD, one-fifth Euros & the rest is Japanese Yen & British Pound. China is also the only country in the world who's net reserves have touched a total of 4Trillion $.

Japan

Japanese foreign exchange reserves are the second biggest reserves in the world. Japan was the first country to reach 500b $ mark & had the highest forex reserves in the world until late February 2006 when it was eventually surpassed by China. Since then it holds the second spot with over 1Trillion $ making it the 2nd ever country to reach 13 digit figure.^[79]

Switzerland

Swiss forex reserves are the third biggest reserves in the world and reached 500b $ 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 net trade surplus of Switzerland over the years.

Russia

Russian reserves are the fourth biggest forex reserves of the world. Russia is the only country in the world who has crossed the 500b $ mark thrice despite the United States & European Union sanctions.^[80] The first fall in reserves was because of the 2008 financial crisis & the second fall was in 2015 because of EU sanctions.

India

Foreign-exchange reserves of India became the fifth largest on 5th June 2020 after Reserve Bank of India released its weekly bulletin of previous week. On 12th June 2020 reserves crossed the 500 billion $ for the first time and became the sixth ever country after Switzerland to do so^[81]. During 1991 Indian economic crisis country only had 5b $ worth of reserves left which led to Economic liberalisation in India. Since then the reserves had seen a 10,000% uplift of reserves in under three decades.^[82]

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).^[83]

Currency Composition of Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER)
(US Dollars, billions)^[83]

No.	Currency	Q4 2016	Q1 2017	Q2 2017	Q3 2017	Q4 2017	Q1 2018	Q2 2018	Q3 2018	Q4 2018	Q1 2019	Q2 2019	Q3 2019	Q4 2019	Q1 2020
1	USD	5,501.98	5,713.35	5,909.13	6,124.73	6,280.61	6,530.87	6,560.78	6,632.15	6,617.84	6,727.09	6,752.28	6,728.85	6,6744.83	6,794.91
2	EUR	1,610.87	1,703.13	1,847.19	1,933.68	2,019.25	2,117.57	2,129.41	2,192.43	2,219.34	2,208.79	2,264.88	2,212.74	2,279.30	2,197.30
3	JPY	332.93	399.85	427.79	435.67	491.01	477.28	511.52	532.94	558.36	584.63	611.87	612.75	631.00	624.97
4	GBP	365.85	377.89	409.48	434.08	454.12	486.13	469.86	481.10	475.45	495.70	497.41	492.22	511.51	486.08
5	CAD	163.14	167.49	178.77	192.85	202.80	193.29	200.22	208.74	197.76	208.64	209.85	205.44	206.71	195.13
6	AUD	142.30	156.28	162.31	171.22	180.01	176.96	178.61	180.91	174.21	181.95	186.71	182.48	187.18	170.16
7	RMB	90.78	95.42	100.00	108.37	123.47	145.67	192.75	192.38	202.79	212.26	212.80	213.83	215.81	221.48
8	CHF	13.69	14.45	15.60	16.31	18.09	17.93	17.18	17.18	15.86	15.27	15.53	16.20	17.36	16.05
Other currencies		199.51	208.28	209.55	228.81	244.69	256.46	254.62	269.60	266.07	263.50	270.56	262.92	281.50	255.53
Unallocated Reserves		2,293.61	2,063.28	1,859.04	1,650.32	1,430.36	1,201.40	951.69	692.22	690.55	712.93	715.88	729.40	749.55	770.32
Total		10,714.68	10,899.42	11,118.86	11,296.05	11,444.41	11,603.57	11,466.63	11,399.66	11,418.24	11,610.77	11,737.76	11,656.82	11,824.74	11,731.94

Notes

References

External links

• IMF's Data Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity -- Reporting Countries
• IMF's SDDS subscribers with links to their websites containing data on international reserves
• Central bank and monetary authority websites at the Bank for International Settlements website