Foreign Exchange Reserves by Country 2026

Executive summary

This index ranks 49 of the world's largest economies by foreign-exchange reserves, using World Bank Open Data for cross-country comparability, and goes beyond a single snapshot: it shows the nominal figure, a ten-year history, a regional breakdown and the biggest movers. China leads at $3.75 trillion (2025); Iceland is lowest among those ranked at $7.7 billion. Sweden ranks 33rd of 49 at $74.2 billion (2025). As reference points, the EU stands at n/a, the OECD at n/a and the world at n/a. Every figure carries its World Bank series and reference year, and the complete dataset is free to download as CSV and JSON under a CC BY 4.0 licence.

Key findings

Overview

Foreign-exchange reserves — the stock of foreign currency and gold a central bank holds — are a buffer against crises and a gauge of external strength. This index ranks countries by total reserves (World Bank, compiled from IMF).

The largest reserves are held by big exporters and economies that manage their currencies, above all in Asia; reserves underpin confidence in a country's ability to meet external obligations and defend its currency.

What drives the ranking

Reserves accumulate through trade surpluses and capital inflows and through deliberate central-bank policy (currency management, self-insurance after past crises). Reserve-currency issuers like the US need fewer reserves.

Reserve adequacy — relative to imports and short-term debt — matters more than the raw total, which naturally favours the largest economies.

What the data reveals

The field is highly concentrated at the top: the leader, China, at $3.75 trillion is about 29.8× the median of $125.6 billion across the 49 economies, and 2.71× the second-placed United States. In other words, foreign-exchange reserves is dominated by a handful of standouts.

What the data says about Sweden: at $74.2 billion it ranks 33rd of 49 — the lower half — below the median of $125.6 billion. That places Sweden in the lower part of the field on foreign-exchange reserves.

Because this is a total rather than a rate, scale dominates: the top five economies alone account for about 52% of the combined $15.98 trillion across all 49 ranked economies — a reminder that a few large players drive the global aggregate.

The spread is wide: the upper quartile of economies clusters around $393.4 billion and the lower quartile around $58.2 billion, while the leader China is 484.8× the lowest-ranked Iceland ($7.7 billion). The quartile split is a cleaner read on typical foreign-exchange reserves than a simple average, which a few extreme values can distort.

Top 5 vs bottom 5

The five highest and five lowest economies on foreign-exchange reserves side by side — the clearest snapshot of the range across the 49 ranked economies.

How concentrated is it?

The distribution is heavily skewed: the top five economies account for about 51.8% of the combined foreign-exchange reserves across all 49 ranked, and the Herfindahl–Hirschman index is 860 — approaching the 2,500 level economists use to flag a highly concentrated field. The average hides how much sits at the very top.

Limitations & notes

This ranking uses the latest year each economy reports to the World Bank; reporting lags differ, so some countries carry data a year or two older than others (see the year column in the full table). It measures foreign-exchange reserves as the source defines it — not its causes, quality, or wider welfare implications, and not any single 'best' outcome. Every figure is an official World Bank series, not an Affärslivet estimate; the complete dataset with per-country years and sources is free to download and reproduce below.

How it has changed over time

The chart tracks foreign-exchange reserves for China (the current leader) against Sweden over the past decade; the table below shows the top economies year by year.

By region

Median foreign-exchange reserves by world region among the ranked economies. Regional medians reveal patterns the country ranking alone can hide.

Biggest movers

The largest changes in foreign-exchange reserves over the available window — where the action has been.

Full ranking — 49 economies

Complete ranking by foreign-exchange reserves, most recent World Bank data, with world region. Region aggregates (EU, OECD, World) appear in the At-a-glance box as reference points.

Scoreboard (machine-readable data)

Every headline indicator with its value, period, source and confidence. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.

↓ CSV · ↓ JSON

Methodology & verification

Economies are ranked by foreign-exchange reserves using the World Bank Open Data API, which harmonises national statistics for cross-country comparison. Each value is the most recent year available for that economy, shown alongside the figure; the trend table uses each economy's reported history. Economies with no reported value are omitted rather than estimated. Region aggregates (EU, euro area, OECD, World) are reference points, not ranked. Absolute reserves favour large economies; adequacy is better judged relative to imports or short-term external debt, which this ranking does not adjust for. Confidence: High (official multilateral source).

Data dictionary

Frequently asked questions

Glossary

Foreign-Exchange Reserves

Total reserves incl. gold (US$) — as reported by the World Bank. ↗

World Bank Open Data

A free, authoritative database of harmonised economic indicators for every country. ↗

Purchasing-power parity (PPP)

A conversion that equalises the price of a comparable basket of goods across countries, so output and incomes can be compared in real terms rather than at market exchange rates. ↗

Nominal (current US$)

A value converted at prevailing market exchange rates and not adjusted for differences in price levels. ↗

GNI per capita

Gross national income per person — like GDP per capita but including net income earned abroad; useful where cross-border corporate flows are large. ↗

Reference year

The year a figure applies to; it can differ across countries because national statistics are published on different schedules. ↗

Region aggregate

A World Bank grouping (e.g. European Union, OECD, World) whose value is a weighted regional total or average, shown here for reference rather than ranked. ↗

Sources

• World Bank Open Data — Total reserves incl. gold (US$)
• IMF via World Bank
• World Bank Open Data (home)
• IMF World Economic Outlook (comparison)
• OECD Data
• Affärslivet — Sweden Economic Indicators

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• Foreign Direct Investment by Country 2026
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• Tax Revenue by Country 2026
• Affärslivet Business Climate Index
• Sweden Economic Indicators