For the first time in approximately three decades, central banks around the world now hold more gold in official reserves than U.S. Treasury securities, reflecting a notable shift in how monetary authorities allocate foreign-exchange reserves.
This development comes amid sustained gold price gains and continued bullion purchases by reserve managers globally.
Data compiled from central-bank reporting and market value calculations show the market value of official gold holdings now surpasses that of foreign official U.S. Treasury holdings.
While precise global totals fluctuate with price changes, gold’s value in reserves has climbed sharply in recent years, elevated by strong central-bank demand and rising bullion prices.
A Milestone Not Seen Since The 1990s VisualCapitalist and other statistical analyses highlight that this is the first time since at least 1996 that gold has overtaken U.S. government debt in central bank portfolios.
The last period when gold reserves exceeded Treasuries in value coincided with a very different global financial order before the deep integration of U.S. dollar assets that followed the end of the Bretton Woods system.
This shift reflects two related trends, including central banks accumulating bullion and U.S. Treasury holdings remaining relatively flat in value terms.
Central banks, especially in emerging economies, have been bulk buyers of gold in recent years, often adding more than 1,000 metric tonnes annually to official reserves.
Official sector purchases have quadrupled relative to historical averages, according to surveys of reserve managers.