TOP countries with the largest gold reserves.

Some countries have too much and sell it to get money. Other buy it because it is considered a safe investment. Gold has always been the most coveted precious metal and currency.

Here are the top countries with the largest gold reserves.

1. USA - 8133.5 tons of gold

U.S. held mostly gold in 1952, when the reserve was 20,663 tons, but fell below 10.00 tons since 1968.

 

2. Germany - 3,395.5 tonnes of gold

Germany sold a large quantity of gold from the national reserve for commemorative coins. Between 2008 and 2009, the Bundesbank sold nearly 6 tons, and in the last year has sold 4.7 tonnes of gold.

3. Italy - 2,451.8 tonnes of gold

Italy has not sold the gold reserves in recent years of crisis, although in 2011 there was pressure from commercial banks that want to buy gold to cope with stress tests.

 

4. France - 2,435.4 tonnes of gold

According to central bank agreement regarding the sale of gold (pact concluded between the European Central Bank and 14 other national central banks, which limits gold sales), France sold 572 tonnes of gold in 2004. Meanwhile, the Bank has transferred 17 tons of gold to International Bank Regulators and said it no longer plans to sell the gold reserves.

5. China - 1054.1 tons of gold

Gold still represent a very small percentage of China's international reserves, amounting to 3.2 trillion dollars, compared with the international average, which is 10%. Strengthening gold reserves will be crucial for China in the near future, given the internationalization of the Chinese currency, the Financial Times commented.

 

6. Switzerland - 1,040.1 tonnes of gold

In 1997, Switzerland announced the sale of a part of the national gold reserve, because "it was not necessary for monetary purposes", according to the World Gold Council. 1,300 tonnes of gold have been considered in addition and Switzerland began selling of them in May 2000. In present, the central bank in Zurich has no plans to sell the gold reserve.

7. Russia - 936.6 tons of gold

Russia began to buy gold in 2006, to consolidate national currency on international markets. The central bank in Moscow regularly buy gold and increased the amount purchased in September.

8. Japan - 765.2 tons of gold

Japan's gold reserves were only 6 tons, in 1950, the central bank made ​​its first major acquisition in 1959, when the bank bought 169 tons of gold. In 2011, the Bank of Japan sold gold worth 20 trillion yen to calm investors after the tsunami and nuclear disaster in March.

9. Netherlands - 612.5 tons of gold

In 1999, the Netherlands announced that it plans to sell 300 tons of gold over the next five years, but it managed to sell only 235 tons.

10. India - 557.7 tons of gold

It is known that India make ​​substantial purchases of gold from the IMF, which he considered a safe investment, but authorities do not comment about future purchase intentions.