Foreign-exchange reserves are, in a strict sense, only the foreign-currency deposits held by national central banks and monetary authorities. However, in popular usage and in the list below, it also includes gold reserves, special drawing rights and International Monetary Fund reserve position because this total figure, which is usually more accurately termed as official reserves or international reserves or official international reserves, is more readily available and also arguably more meaningful. These foreign-currency deposits are the financial assets of the central banks and monetary authorities that are held in different reserve currencies and which are used to back its liabilities. Before the end of the gold standard, gold was the preferred reserve currency. Some nations are converting foreign-exchange reserves into sovereign wealth funds, which can rival foreign-exchange reserves in size. The list below is mostly based on the latest available IMF data, and while most nations report in U.S. dollars, a few nations in Eastern Europe report solely in Euros. And since all the figures below are in U.S. dollar equivalents, exchange rate fluctuations can have a significant impact on these figures.
These are the top 5 countries in above list & almost all of them have reserves of 500 billion USD or above & have maintained that spot for atleast a week. Currently there are only five countries whose reserves are above half trillion which includes China, Japan, Russia, Switzerland & India being the latest to achieve this feat. While Saudi Arabia being the former country until March 2020 when it saw the fastest fall in 20 years amid covid 19 outbreak. The images below shows the timeline of their reserves over the years since their first compilation of forex data.The list is in accordance to their respective entry in this club. China Foreign-exchange reserves of China are the biggest of all the countries and have maintained the top spot for over 14 years.The main composition of chinese forex reserves are of approx. two-third USD, one-fifth Euros & the rest is Japanese Yen & British Pound. China is also the only country in the world who's net reserves have touched a total of 4Trillion $.
Japan Japanese foreign exchange reserves are the second biggest reserves in the world. Japan was the first country to reach 500b $ mark & had the highest forex reserves in the world until late February 2006 when it was eventually surpassed by China. Since then it holds the second spot with over 1Trillion $ making it the 2nd ever country to reach 13 digit figure. Switzerland in CHF Swiss forex reserves are the third biggest reserves in the world and reached 500b $ in 2014 becoming fifth country to do so after Saudi Arabia. Swiss reserves are compiled in Swiss franc. The high reserves are mainly because of net trade surplus of Switzerland over the years. Russia Russian reserves are the fourth biggest forex reserves of the world & 3rd country to reach 500b $ mark after Japan. Russia is the only country in the world who has crossed the 500b $ mark thrice despite the United States & European Union sanctions. The first fall in reserves was because of the 2008 financial crisis & the second fall was in 2015 because of EU sanctions. India Foreign-exchange reserves of India became the fifth largest on 5th June 2020 after Reserve Bank of India released its weekly bulletin of previous week. On 12th June 2020 reserves crossed the $500 billion for the first time and became the sixth ever country after Switzerland to do so. During 1991 Indian economic crisis country only had 5b $ worth of reserves left which led to Economic liberalisation in India. Since then the reserves had seen a 10,000% uplift of reserves in under three decades.
Currency composition of foreign exchange reserves
IMF releases the quarterly data on the currency composition of official foreign exchange reserves. The data are reported to the IMF on a voluntary and confidential basis. As of Q4 2016, there are 146 reporters, consisting of IMF member countries, a number of non-member countries/economies, and other entities holding foreign exchange reserves. From Q4 2016, the data was expanded to include renminbi.
