Gold's share of the world's official reserves, at market prices. 1 series: Gold. Latest, 2026 Q2: Gold 25.60%.

Gold sits outside the currency shares above: COFER counts only foreign-exchange reserves, so it cannot show central banks moving into an asset no government issues. The rise since 2022 is mostly the gold price: the ECB, whose 27% for the end of 2025 this chart is checked against, puts it down largely to valuation, with gold up about 30% in 2024 and 60% in 2025. Gold now outweighs the euro in official reserves.

See also: Laurence Wilse-Samson, "Global Finance: A Money View", chapter 27, The Future of the Dollar System; European Central Bank, "The international role of the euro" (June 2026)

Classroom exerciseFind gold's share in 1980, 2000 and the latest quarter. How much of the change since 2000 came from the gold price rather than from central banks buying more? Compare this chart with the currency shares above: why does adding gold to the denominator change how dominant the dollar looks? Teach page