A historic shift has occurred in the global reserve system.
According to a new report from the European Central Bank, as of the end of 2025, gold's share of global central bank reserve assets has risen to 27%, officially surpassing US Treasury securities to become the world's largest reserve asset.
This structural change is driven by two key factors. First, international gold prices experienced an epic rally in 2025, surging 65% for the year and significantly boosting the market value of gold reserves. Second, central banks worldwide have engaged in sustained, large-scale gold purchases over many years, continuously optimizing their reserve structures.
In fact, looking over a longer timeline, the respective shares of gold reserves and US Treasuries in global international reserves have swapped rankings before.
Prior to 1996, gold's share was higher than that of US Treasuries. From 1996 through the first half of 2025, the share of US Treasuries exceeded that of gold. However, starting in the second half of 2025, gold's share once again surpassed that of US Treasuries. This landmark change directly reflects the accelerating pace of global de-dollarization against a backdrop of persistent geopolitical conflicts.
Gold's Share Increases by 7 Percentage Points
On Tuesday, the European Central Bank published a report titled "The International Role of the Euro" on its official website. The data shows that by the end of 2025, gold accounted for 27% of total global central bank reserve assets, a sharp increase of 7 percentage points from 20% at the end of 2024. Over the same period, the share of US Treasury reserves fell from 25% to 22%, completely ceding its position as the world's largest reserve asset.
The share of "other US dollar assets" also declined, from 22% to 20%, while the euro's share remained unchanged at 15%, serving as a significant supplement to global reserve diversification.
Overall, US dollar-denominated assets as a whole still account for 42% of global reserves, remaining the highest-share reserve currency. Its overall monetary dominance has not yet been completely overturned.
The soaring price of gold in 2025 was the primary driver behind this shift in reserve rankings.
Throughout 2025, international gold prices repeatedly set new historical records, achieving a cumulative gain of 65%, a rare annual increase in decades. By the end of 2025, gold prices were firmly above $4,300 per ounce, and in January 2026, they broke through $5,500 per ounce to set another record high. The sharp rise in gold prices directly increased the book value of central banks' gold reserves. Combined with the ongoing reduction in US Treasury reserves, this ultimately led to gold overtaking Treasuries.
The long-term, sustained, and proactive gold purchases by central banks worldwide provide the foundational support for gold's steadily rising reserve status.
Since the 2022 outbreak of geopolitical conflict and the resulting global reserve security anxieties triggered by US financial sanctions, central banks have initiated a continuous wave of gold buying. They have actively reduced holdings of US Treasuries and increased allocations to gold, which carries no sovereign risk, in order to diversify away from single-currency US dollar reserve risk. The President of the European Central Bank stated in the report that the persistently tense geopolitical situation is the core motivation for central banks to continue increasing their gold purchases.
Looking at purchase data, from 2022 to 2024, global central banks had an average annual net gold purchase volume exceeding 1,000 tonnes, with the buying fervor remaining high. In 2025, the pace of purchases slowed slightly, with a net purchase of 850 tonnes for the year, but it still maintained a high level of net buying, demonstrating the long-term strategic resolve of central banks to increase gold allocations. Over the past three years, China, Poland, Turkey, and India have been the core purchasing forces. In 2025, the purchasing landscape saw a new development, with stablecoin giant Tether becoming the largest single buyer for the year, purchasing over 100 tonnes of gold.
Total Central Bank Gold Reserves Approach Historic High
In the current international monetary system, the US dollar plays the most significant role as the global reserve currency. The current system is also referred to as the "US dollar standard" or "Bretton Woods II."
An expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has noted that under the dollar standard, although the dollar is decoupled from gold, there was a global trust that the US government would implement responsible monetary policy. Therefore, the reputation of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy replaced gold as the global monetary anchor under this system.
The expert also pointed out that the ebb and flow between the share of gold reserves and the share of US Treasuries is indeed related to the intentional actions of countries to increase gold holdings and reduce US Treasury holdings in their international reserve management.
Currently, the total gold reserves held by global central banks have exceeded 36,000 tonnes, just a step away from the historical peak of 38,000 tonnes seen during the Bretton Woods system.
Recent reserve operations by various countries have shown significant divergence. Turkey has accumulated purchases of 220 tonnes of gold since 2022, continuously increasing its gold reserves. However, following changes in the Middle East situation in early 2026, it concentrated on selling or lending out 130 tonnes of gold. This large-scale reduction has been identified by the European Central Bank as one of the largest reserve drawdown operations by a global central bank in recent years.
While the share of US dollar reserves continues to decline, the international influence of the euro is steadily increasing. In 2025, the issuance volume of euro-denominated international debt surged by 30%, with the total approaching 1 trillion euros, a record high. Net inflows from international investors into eurozone assets reached 850 billion euros, with the level of foreign capital inflows approaching a peak since the euro's creation. The euro is continuously countering US dollar hegemony and enriching the global diversified reserve system.
As the US-Iran conflict remains unresolved, global oil prices remain high, high inflation persists as a challenging issue, and the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut trajectory has been disrupted, the future path for gold may face pressure. The Federal Open Market Committee meeting is scheduled for June 17th, where the new Federal Reserve Chair will make his first public policy appearance. He previously suggested that AI's deflationary effects might provide room for rate cuts, but with hawkish factions currently dominant within the Fed, his policy stance faces a severe test.
According to the latest data from the CME FedWatch Tool, the probability of the Fed maintaining rates unchanged in June is 98.6%, with a 1.4% probability of a cumulative 25 basis point cut. The probability of maintaining rates unchanged by July is 92.4%, with a 6.3% probability of a cumulative 25 basis point hike and a 1.3% probability of a cumulative 25 basis point cut.
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