Foreign Exchange Reserves by Country

What is Foreign Exchange Reserves?

Foreign reserves are the stock of foreign-currency-denominated assets held by a central bank — typically US Treasuries, German Bunds, JGBs, gold, and IMF SDR allocations. They are the country's defence buffer against balance-of-payments shocks and the ammunition for any FX intervention.

Why it matters for FX

Changes in reserves can signal active FX intervention. A sharp drop in JPY reserves, for example, often coincides with the BoJ selling dollars to defend the yen; rebuilds signal the opposite. Reserve adequacy ratios also matter for risk premia: countries with thin reserves face wider sovereign spreads and more fragile currencies during global risk-off episodes.

How to read this page

Look at the level and the month-over-month change rather than the absolute number, which is dominated by valuation effects (USD strength changes the dollar value of EUR-denominated holdings even with no flows). For intervention signals, focus on the change relative to known FX moves.

What to watch for

• Sudden drops coinciding with currency-defence operations
• Valuation effects vs flow effects in monthly changes
• Reserve-to-import months and reserve-to-short-debt ratios
• Composition shifts — gold share, USD share, EUR share
• Cross-checks with COFER (IMF) currency composition data

Common questions

What are foreign exchange reserves?

Foreign exchange reserves are foreign-currency assets, gold, SDRs, and IMF reserve positions held by a central bank to meet external obligations and support currency stability.

Which countries have the largest foreign reserves?

The ranking changes over time, so this page compares the latest reserve readings available in FXMacroData across supported countries instead of hard-coding a stale list.