The amount of gold in the world is finite – unlike the amount of money issued by the central banks of countries, which simply depends on the economic goals of those banks. So when the value of the dollar, pound or euro falls, the corresponding value of gold rises. This makes owning gold a great way to prepare for times of economic uncertainty, and this is why investors and national banks buy and hold gold.

SD Bullion analyzed global data on gold reserves from World Gold Council as well as economic data from Economics of trading to illustrate the distribution of gold held by governments around the world. The World Gold Council data is the latest for the second quarter of 2023.

The US has more than twice as much gold as second-place Germany. The size of the country’s current reserves, just under 9,000 metric tons, reflects the fact that gold was the standard currency of international trade and barter until the early 20th century – and that between the two world wars, European countries bought supplies, weapons and equipment from USA, pay with gold.

Gold owned by the US is stored in different safe locations across the country, including Fort Knox in Kentucky, perhaps the most famous gold depository in the world.

Germany, another longtime international trading power, has the second largest amount of gold. In third place is the International Monetary Fund, which is not a country, but the financial arm of the United Nations, which works to stabilize the world economy and facilitate international trade. Countries that join the fund must pay into its coffers – and they often do this with gold.

But there are other countries that have plenty of gold available. Here are the nine that have the most, along with the IMF, for the world’s top 10 list. The percentage of national reserves represents how much money and other assets a country has in gold. The inflation data is the latest data available since August.