US and Russia accumulate most gold amid pandemic

What has been happening with gold behind the scenes during the coronavirus period?

Central Banks explore gold’s safe-haven status.
Photo: LEW

Data acquired by indicates that the US and Russia accumulated the highest gold reserves at 157.74 tons. The accumulation occurred between March and December 2020 amid the pandemic.

The US, which holds the highest reserves globally, added 92.23 tons, increasing its haul to 9,057.38 tons from 8,965.15 tons. Germany is second with 3,703.74 tons of Gold, liquidated 5.4 tons from March’s 3,709.14 tons.

The International Monetary Fund holds 3,100.38 tons in gold reserves, while back in March, the figure stood at 3,101.53 tons.

The institution has liquidated a total of 1.1 tons of the precious metal. Italy is fourth with 2,701.63 tons, having liquidated 0.76 tons from March’s 2,702.39 tons.

As of December 2020, France had the fifth-highest gold reserves at 2,684.22 tons, after liquidating 0.76 tons from the 2,684.98 tons held in March.


In March, the figure stood at 2,159.8 tons.

Switzerland has liquidated about 0.83 tons to record 1,145.29 tons as of December.

Japan currently sits on 841.46 tons in gold reserves after liquidating 1.52 tons. India has gained 13.85 tons in Gold to put its current figure at 699.88 tons.

Netherlands gold reserves currently stand at 673.64 tons, having liquated 1.14 trillion from the original haul of 674.78 tons from March. The European Union liquidated 1.22 tons in Gold, reducing its reserve to 554.82 tons. researchers commented on the gold purchasing trend during the pandemic. According to the researchers:

“When the pandemic hit, most countries began a new dash towards Gold. The dash came in the backdrop of central banks printing massive amounts of money to stimulate the global economy.

Notably, Gold continues to have an intrinsic value reassuring countries of good returns in case of heightened inflation.”



2 comments on “US and Russia accumulate most gold amid pandemic”

Leave a Reply