Islamabad: With gold prices reaching the highest level at all times on Thursday, we take a closer look at countries with the largest gold reserves. The United States, Germany and Italy maintain the first sites, which reflects the continuous force of gold amid geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
The current increase in gold prices has been largely provided by increasing demand, especially from central banks. Gold is one of the decisive assets due to its safety, liquidity and its ability to provide returns – three main investment goals for central banks. According to the World Gold Council, central banks bought more than 1,000 metric tons of gold in 2024, representing the third consecutive year of important purchases and double the average annual purchase rate over the past decade.
As of January 2025, Pakistan has 64.7 tons of gold, ranked 49th in the global list of gold reserves.
The world’s largest gold holders are still the United States, with 8133.5 tons in Fort Nox from the second quarter of 2024. Germany closely followed 3351.5 tons, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has 2,814 tons. Italy and France rotate between the first five places, with 2,451.8 tons and 2437 tons, respectively.
Among the other prominent gold reserves are the Russian Federation (2,329.6 tons), China (2,284.5 tons), Switzerland (1039.9 tons), India (879 tons), Japan (846 tons), and Turkey (619.9 tons), all of which consist of the top 10.
In 2025, gold purchases continued in the central bank, as countries such as Poland, India, China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan led this charge.
India has 940.92 tons of gold, making it the dominant player in South Asia. India added 22.54 tons in 2024, with its place among the largest gold reserves in the world.
East Asia has a total of 3,29.97 tons of gold, as China contributes in a large part, followed by Japan and South Korea.
Western Europe has a total of 11773.55 tons of gold, bypassing North America’s property, as the United States has led the charge. Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland have also arranged with the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom closely following up.
The continuous gathering in gold prices has been affected by several factors, including potential interest cuts in the American Federal Reserve, uncertainty in customs tariffs, and escalating geopolitical tensions, especially in the Middle East. This led to 16 standard gold prices in 2025, when four of these are more than $ 3,000.
Analysts expect the gold to continue to climb, and it may reach $ 3500 an ounce, as investors flow to the precious metal because of its stability amid global debt, recession fears, and a global course of cash dilution.
