Germany is the European country with the largest gold reserves 3,358 metric tons by end of 2021. There are more than five locations where gold can be found in Germany
The country throws Russia, the largest country in terms of land area on the continent, to the 4th position in terms of gold holding.
Italy with 301,338km2 land area is No.2 with 2452 metric tons while the third position is held by France with 2,436, maintaining the 2021 quantity found in the country.
Russia is No.4 on the ranking table with 2,302 while Switzerland which covers 41,290 km2 land area and a country with one of the strongest legal tender in Europe is No.5 largest gold reserve holders on the continent.
One country that is featured on the European gold reserve ranking is the United Kingdom with 310 metric tons of gold reserves, making it the 10th largest on the continent.
Though 38 countries in Europe have gold reserves, the table below shows the top 20 highest gold reserves on the continent:
Ranking | Country | Quantity of Gold Reserves by metric tons |
1 | Germany | 3,358 |
2 | Italy | 2,452 |
3 | France | 2,436 |
4 | Russia | 2,302 |
5 | Switzerland | 1,040 |
6 | Netherlands | 612 |
7 | Euro Area | 505 |
8 | Turkey | 431 |
9 | Portugal | 383 |
10 | United Kingdom | 310 |
11 | Spain | 282 |
12 | Austria | 280 |
13 | Poland | 229 |
14 | Belgium | 227 |
15 | Sweden | 126 |
16 | Greece | 114 |
17 | Romania | 104 |
18 | Hungary | 94.49 |
19 | Denmark | 66.55 |
20 | Belarus | 53.37 |
Other countries where gold can be found include Malta (lowest holding), Estonia, Iceland, Albania, Luxemburg, and Slovenia, according to Trading Economics Data.
Gold as an asset
Apart from its industrial use, gold is a century-long asset used as a store of value to hedge increase in the price of goods and services.
According to the 2022 central bank gold reserve survey by Gold Hub, more central banks across the world are interested in increasing their gold reserves.
Gold is not also stable, but it is better than stocks and cryptocurrency, which is considered the most volatile asset in the world.
At the time of this report, the price of gold closed at $1,822.00 per ounce, dropping $52 in the last 24 hours, according to monex live gold spot prices.