List of countries by foreign exchange reserves

Foreign exchange reserves (also called Forex reserves) in a strict sense are only the foreign currency deposits held by central banks and monetary authorities. However, the term foreign exchange reserves in popular usage (such as this list) commonly includes foreign exchange and gold, SDRs and IMF reserve position as this total figure is more readily available, however it is accurately deemed as official reserves or international reserves. The list excludes currency swaps conducted by central banks.

These are assets of the central banks which are held in different reserve currencies such as the dollar, euro, yen and pound, 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 government or financial institutions. Before the end of the gold standard, gold was the preferred reserve. Some nations are converting foreign exchange reserves into sovereign wealth funds, which can rival foreign exchange reserves in size.

This is a list of countries and territories by foreign exchange reserves in US dollar equivalence. Some nations have multiple monetary authorities, counted separately, such as the People's Republic of China, which has three (mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau). Exchange rate fluctuations can have significant impact on these numbers. While most nations report in US dollars, a few nations in Eastern Europe report solely in Euros.

List of states by foreign exchange reserves

For consistency, forward currency swap contracts are not included in this list until they mature, figures that include them may be higher or lower than those listed here. Currently, well over a third of all world reserves are held by majority Chinese territories, i.e. Macau, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore.

Rank Country/Monetary Authority Foreign exchange reserves (millions of USD) Figures as of —  World (sum of all countries) 7,339,476 -- 1  People's Republic of China (does not include Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR) 1,950,000 Dec 2008 2  Japan 1,011,000 Jan 2009 - Eurozone (EU member states which have adopted the euro, incl. ECB) 430,173 Sep 2008 3  Russia 381,900 Jan 2009 4  Republic of China 294,187 Feb 2009 5  India 248,600 Jan 2009 6  South Korea 201,200 Jan 2009 7  Brazil 200,830 Jan 2009 8 Hong Kong SAR, China 181,700 Jan 2009 9  Singapore 165,677 Nov 2008 10  Algeria 138,453 Nov 2008 11  Germany 133,139 Nov 2008 12  Thailand 110,900 Dec 2008 13  France 102,836 Nov 2008 14  Italy 100,246 Sep 2008 15  Malaysia 91,500 Jan 2009 16  Mexico 82,100 Feb 2009 17  Iran 81,000 May 2008 18  Libya 79,000 Sep 2007 19  Turkey 74,400 Nov 2008 20  Switzerland 73,457 Oct 2008 21  United States 71,245 Oct 2008 22  United Kingdom 65,493 Jan 2009 23  Poland 63,847 Oct 2008 — European Central Bank (ECB, not owned by any single EU member) 60,707 Sep 2008 24  Nigeria 50,900 Jan 2009 25  Indonesia 50,181 Nov 2008 26  Iraq 48,779 Jan 2009[1] 27  Argentina 46,637 Jan 2009 28  Venezuela 42,628 Dec 2008 29  Norway 42,364 Nov 2008 30  Canada 41,402 Oct 2008 31  Romania 40,194 Sep 2008 32  Philippines 39,316 Feb 2009 33  Czech Republic 36,358 Sep 2008 34  Denmark 36,285 Sep 2008 35  Israel 36,259 Sep 2008 36  Egypt 33,431 Jan 2009 37  South Africa 33,097 Jan 2009 38  Sweden 32,075 Aug 2008 39  Peru 31,950 Nov 2008 40  Ukraine 31,900 Dec 2008 41  Saudi Arabia 31,320 Oct 2007 42  Australia 30,692 Nov 2008 43  United Arab Emirates 29,620 2007 est. 44  Netherlands 28,505 Jan 2009 45  Morocco 24,814 Sep 2008 46  Colombia 23,241 Nov 2008 47  Hungary 22,712 Sep 2008 48  Chile 21,920 Nov 2008 49  Vietnam 20,700 Jun 2008 50  Kuwait 19,630 2007 est. 51  Lebanon 19,400 2007 est. 52  Slovakia 18,504 Sep 2008 53  Spain 17,906 Oct 2008 54  Bulgaria 17,692 Jan 2009 55  Serbia 17,490 Nov 2008 56 Macau SAR, China 15,930 Dec 2008 57  Austria 15,871 Nov 2008 58  Belgium 14,993 Dec 2008 59  New Zealand 14,654 Sep 2008 60  Portugal 12,441 Sep 2008 61  Angola 12,290 2007 est. 62  Pakistan 10,371 Feb 2009[2] 63  Botswana 10,000 May 2008 64  Azerbaijan 9,316 Apr 2008 65  Croatia 9,121 Jan 2009 66  Finland 8,344 Sep 2008 67  Tunisia 8,236 Jun 2008 68  Trinidad and Tobago 8,100 2008 est. 69  Jordan 8,005 Jan 2008 70  Yemen 7,871 2007 est. 71  Bolivia 7,717 Dec 2008 72  Oman 7,004 2007 est. 73  Lithuania 6,505 Sep 2008 74  Ecuador 6,500 Oct 2008 75  Qatar 6,368 2007 est. 76  Latvia 6,239 Sep 2008 77  Uruguay 6,230 Aug 2008 78  Cyprus 6,176 2007 est. 79  Syria 6,039 2007 est. 80  Uzbekistan 5,600 2007 est. 81  Bangladesh 5,170 Oct 2008 82  Bosnia and Herzegovina 5,151 Jan 2008 83  Guatemala 4,559 2007 est. 84  Cuba 4,247 2007 est. 85  Equatorial Guinea 3,928 2007 est. 86  Costa Rica 3,915 2007 est. 87  Turkmenistan 3,644 2007 est. 88  Estonia 3,642 Sep 2008 89  Greece 3,573 Sep 2008 90  Malta 3,522 2007 est. 91  Burma 3,500 Aug 2008 92  Bahrain 3,474 2007 est. 93  Belarus 3,061 Dec 2008 94  Ghana 2,837 2007 est. 95  Kenya 2,800 Oct 2008 96  Iceland 2,792 Feb 2008 97  Paraguay 2,743 Nov 2008 98  Sri Lanka 2,600 Oct 2008 99  Dominican Republic 2,525 2007 est. 100  Côte d'Ivoire 2,500 2007 est. 101  Tanzania 2,441 2007 est. 102  Cameroon 2,341 2007 est. 103  Honduras 2,336 Oct 2008 104  El Salvador 2,263 Sep 2008 105  Republic of Macedonia 2,243 Nov 2007 106  Papua New Guinea 2,193 Dec 2007 107  Kazakhstan 1,600 Jan 2009 108  Mauritius 1,772 2007 est. 109  Albania 1,615 Dec 2007 110  Moldova 1,610 Oct 2008 111  Cambodia 1,600 Dec 2007 112  Armenia 1,498 Nov 2008 113  Jamaica 1,490 Dec 2007 114  Mozambique 1,470 Nov 2007 115  Gabon 1,459 2007 est. 116  Senegal 1,350 2007 est. 117  Georgia 1,300 2008 est. 118  Kyrgyzstan 1,278 Sep 2008 119  Panama 1,260 2007 est. 120  Sudan 1,245 2007 est. 121  Zimbabwe 1,222 Mar 2008 122  Zambia 1,100 2007 est. 123  Slovenia 1,076 Jan 2008 124  Nicaragua 1,075 2007 est. 125  Mongolia 1,000 Jul 2007 126  Chad 997 2007 est. 127 Ireland 934 Oct 2008 128  Burkina Faso 897 2007 est. 129  Lesotho 889 2007 est. 130  Ethiopia 840 2007 est. 131  Benin 825 2007 est. 132  Namibia 750 2007 est. 133  Madagascar 745 2007 est. 134  Luxembourg 713 Sep 2008 135  Barbados 620 2007 est 136  Laos 514 2007 est. 137  Rwanda 511 2007 est. 138  Swaziland 395 2007 est. 139  Togo 363 2007 est. 140  Cape Verde 344 2007 est. 141  Tajikistan 301 2007 est. 142  Guyana 292 2007 est. 143  Haiti 221 2007 est. 144  Belize 150 Oct 2008 145  Vanuatu 149 Dec 2007 146  Malawi 140 2007 est. 147  Gambia 120 2007 est. 148  Guinea 119 2007 est. 149  Burundi 118 2007 est. 150  Seychelles 118 2007 est. 151  Samoa 70 2004 est. 152  Tonga 55 Feb 2008 153  Liberia 49 Dec 2008 155  Congo 36 Jan 2009 154  São Tomé and Príncipe 36 Dec 2007 156  Eritrea 22 2007 est.