Gold overtakes US Treasuries as world's top reserve asset, ECB reports
Gold has passed US Treasuries as the world's top central bank reserve asset for the first time, according to a new ECB report. Bullion reached 27% of reserves at the end of 2025, up from 20%, while Treasuries fell to 22%. The dollar still leads overall at 42%, but the shift is re
Gold has overtaken US Treasuries as the world's top reserve asset held by central banks, the first time that has happened, according to a new report from the European Central Bank. Anyone tracking the dollar's role in the global financial system has a concrete data point to weigh. The ECB report says bullion accounted for 27 percent of global central bank reserve assets at the end of 2025, up from 20 percent a year earlier, while US Treasuries fell to 22 percent from 25 percent. Euro-denominated reserves held steady at 15 percent. Taken together, dollar-denominated assets of all kinds still made up the largest single share at 42 percent. The ECB attributes the shift to sustained buying by countries including China, Poland, Turkey and India, combined with a sharp rise in the gold price that lifted its share of total reserves. ECB President Christine Lagarde wrote that geopolitical tensions continue to drive strong central bank demand for gold. Central bank gold purchases eased to 850 tonnes in 2025 after three years above 1,000 tonnes. The report also names stablecoin issuer Tether as the single largest buyer last year, with more than 100 tonnes.