Foreign Exchange Reserves as a percent of GDP

Description

Foreign exchange reserves are cash and other reserves held by a central bank of a country that are primarily available for imports, influencing the exchange rate of the currency and to maintain confidence in the financial markets. Foreign exchange is typically held in a reserve currency, usually the United States Dollar and sometimes the Euro. Foreign exchange reserves also include reserves in gold.

The chart above presents foreign exchange reserves as a percentage of the country's GDP. Some countries (like China ($3 trillion) and India ($476 billion)) hold a large amount of foreign exchange reserves, so normalizing the foreign exchange reserves with respect to the country's GDP shows a better picture of the foreign exchange position.

Foreign Exchange Reserves by Country

The chart above and table below shows countries with the most foreign exchange reserves for the latest available data, usually 2020 for most countries. (Data from Wikipedia)

Rank Country ForexReserves_mUSD LatestFigures
1 China 3,115,500 January 2020
2 Japan 1,342,300 January 2020
3 Switzerland 846,620 October 2019
4 Russia 563,100 21 February 2020
5 Saudi Arabia 501,607 January 2020
6 Taiwan 479,131 January 2020
7 India 476,122 21 February 2020
8 Hong Kong 434,200 November 2019
9 South Korea 408,800 December 2019
10 Brazil 356,884 December 2019
11 Singapore 279,450 December 2019
12 Thailand 227,500 December 2019
13 Germany 221,217 December 2019
14 United Kingdom 200,906 Jan 2020
15 Mexico 182,915 September 2019
16 France 169,005 October 2019
17 Italy 164,992 June 2019
18 Czech Republic 149,713 December 2019
19 Iran 132,600 31 December 2017
20 Indonesia 131,700 October 2019
21 Israel 129,965 January 2020
22 United States 129,160 31 Jan 2020
23 Poland 125,500 January 2020
24 United Arab Emirates 107,555 December 2019
25 Malaysia 103,613 31 December 2019
26 Turkey 102,467 January 2020
27 Philippines 87,860 31 December 2019
28 Canada 85,238 30 September 2019
29 Vietnam 80,000 2 January 2020
30 Spain 74,232 September 2019
31 Libya 69,350 31 December 2017
32 Norway 68,375 September 2019
33 Denmark 66,810 September 2019
34 Peru 66,714 June 2019
35 Algeria 65,600 July 2019
36 Sweden 57,497 September 2019
37 South Africa 54,855 September 2019
38 Lebanon 53,100 31 December 2017
39 Colombia 52,570 October 2019
40 Argentina 48,703 September 2019
41 Azerbaijan 47,500 April 2019
42 Australia 47,034 October 2019
43 Iraq 47,020 31 December 2017
44 Egypt 45,000 November 2019
45 Romania 43,947 October 2019
46 Netherlands 43,552 October 2019
47 Nigeria 40,255 5 November 2019
48 Kuwait 39,200 May 2019
49 Chile 38,933 September 2019
50 Qatar 38,850 August 2019
51 Bangladesh 32,381 January 2020
52 Hungary 30,889 September 2019
53 Kazakhstan 28,796 September 2019
54 Bulgaria 27,508 September 2019
55 Belgium 28,568 September 2019
56 Ukraine 26,300 1 February 2020
57 Portugal 25,945 September 2019
58 Austria 24,819 September 2019
59 Morocco 24,644 September 2019
60 Croatia 22,318 September 2019
61 Macau, China 21,183 September 2019
62 Turkmenistan 20,600 31 December 2017
63 New Zealand 18,406 September 2019
65 Oman 16,000 31 October2019
65 Angola 17,012 June 2019
66 Uzbekistan 16,000 31 December 2017
67 Jordan 15,181 September 2019
68 Guatemala 14,511 September 2019
69 Serbia 14,515 September 2019
70 Uruguay 14,285 September 2019
71 Cambodia 13,886 2018
72 Cuba 12,800 31 December 2017
73 Pakistan 12,591 21 Feb 2020
74 Finland 11,365 October 2019
75 Nepal 9,440 15 September 2019
76 Belarus 9,194 October 2019
77 Venezuela 8,527 May 2019
78 Bolivia 8,409 April 2019
79 Greece 8,207 September 2019
80 Kenya 8,196 2018
81 North Korea 8,000 November 2013
82 Afghanistan 7,800 30 March 2019
83 Paraguay 7,739 2018
84 Sri Lanka 7,635 30 November 2019
85 Dominican Republic 7,591 September 2019
86 Ghana 7,555 31 December 2017
87 Costa Rica 7,482 September 2019
88 Botswana 7,476 31 December 2017
89 Mauritius 7,217 September 2019
90 Slovakia 7,141 September 2019
91 Trinidad and Tobago 7,103 October 2019
92 Iceland 6,776 October 2019
93 Ireland 5,644 October 2019
94 Tunisia 5,540 October 2019
95 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5,370 31 December 2017
96 Myanmar 5,032 31 December 2017
97 Honduras 5,005 July 2019
98 El Salvador 4,735 September 2019
99 Ivory Coast 4,688 31 December 2017
100 Latvia 4,498 September 2019
101 Ecuador 4,489 September 2019
102 Lithuania 4,481 October 2019
103 Tanzania 4,174 31 December 2017
104 Mongolia 3,986 September 2019
105 Panama 3,888 31 December 2017
106 Albania 3,724 October 2019
107 Jamaica 3,605 March 2019
108 North Macedonia 3,420 September 2019
109 Brunei 3,407 2018
110 Georgia 3,387 October 2019
111 Ethiopia 3,147 31 December 2017
112 Uganda 3,045 31 December 2017
113 Moldova 2,942 September 2019
114 Armenia 2,840 December 2019
115 Zambia 2,426 31 December 2017
116 Cameroon 2,357 31 December 2017
117 Kyrgyzstan 2,203 September 2019
118 Nicaragua 2,201 August 2019
119 Mozambique 2,193 31 December 2017
120 Bahrain 2,166 31 December 2017
121 Haiti 2,044 31 December 2017
122 Namibia 1,949 31 December 2017
123 Papua New Guinea 1,800 31 December 2017
124 Madagascar 1,740 2018
125 Bahamas 1,414 2017
126 Estonia 1,352 October 2019
127 Tajikistan 1,284 2018
128 Montenegro 1,261 2018
129 Guinea 1,225 2018
130 Luxembourg 1,070 October 2019
131 Curaçao 1,055 31 October 2019
132 Niger 1,039 2015
133 Cyprus 1,034 October 2019
134 Rwanda 1,026 31 December 2017
135 Slovenia 1,022 October 2019
136 Laos 990 31 December 2017
137 Aruba 980 2018
138 Bhutan 987 2018
139 Lesotho 983 31 December 2017
140 Fiji 967 31 December 2017
141 Mauritania 934 2018
142 Malta 890 October 2019
143 Kosovo 881 2018
144 Gabon 835 31 December 2017
145 Republic of the Congo 813 31 December 2017
146 Malawi 760 2018
147 Maldives 722 2018
148 Timor-Leste 674 2018
149 Palestine 632 August 2019
150 Mali 624 2015
151 Solomon Islands 617 2018
152 Cape Verde 606 2018
153 Seychelles 535 September 2019
154 Guyana 518 2018
155 Sierra Leone 503 2018
156 Suriname 581 2018
157 Liberia 475 2017
158 Djibouti 454 2018
159 Democratic Republic of the Congo 445 31 December 2017
160 Eswatini 441 2018
161 Vanuatu 421 2018
162 Equatorial Guinea 416 31 December 2017
163 Syria 407 31 December 2017
164 Antigua and Barbuda 389 2018
165 Saint Kitts and Nevis 363 2018
166 Central African Republic 362 2018
167 San Marino 339 2018
168 Guinea-Bissau 332 2015
169 Belize 294 2018
170 Saint Lucia 286 2018
171 Tonga 277 2018
172 Eritrea 237 31 December 2017
173 Grenada 234 2018
174 Togo 215 31 December 2017
175 Barbados 205 31 December 2017
176 Yemen 245 31 December 2017
177 Sudan 178 2017
178 Federated States of Micronesia 204 2017
179 Comoros 199 2018
180 Gambia 192 2018
181 Dominica 191 2018
182 Samoa 170 2018
183 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 170 2018
184 Senegal 152 31 December 2017
185 Chad 148 2018
186 Zimbabwe 87 2018
187 South Sudan 68 2016
188 Burundi 68 2018
189 Benin 60 31 December 2017
190 Montserrat 49 31 December 2017
191 Burkina Faso 45 31 December 2017
192 São Tomé and Príncipe 47 2018
193 Somalia 000 30 December 2017
194 Kiribati 7 31 December 2017

Which country has the highest foreign exchange reserves?

  • China had the highest foreign exchange reserves of USD 3 trillion as of January 2020.
  • Next in place was Japan with a reserve of USD 1.3 trillion.
  • Switzerland was next with a total foreign exchange reserve of USD 846 billion.

Which country has the lowest foreign exchange reserves?

  • Somalia had the least foreign exchange reserves of USD 0.
  • Kiribati had next least amount of forex reserves of USD 7 million.
  • Next least in forex reserves was Burkina Faso with USD 45 million.

Increasing Foreign Exchange Reserves

The following countries increased the foreign exchange reserves the largest between the years 2005 through 2014.

Country Increase in Forex Reserve (USD)
China 3.1Tn
Saudi Arabia 587.1Bn
Switzerland 488.2Bn
Japan 413.8Bn
Brazil 309.8Bn
United States 246.2Bn
Hong Kong SAR, China 204.2Bn
Russian Federation 203.9Bn
India 187.3Bn
Korea, Rep. 152.3Bn
Singapore 143.5Bn
Algeria 127.2Bn
Mexico 121.6Bn
Thailand 105.1Bn
Indonesia 77.1Bn
Turkey 74.9Bn
United Kingdom 65.4Bn
Philippines 61.2Bn
Israel 58.0Bn
Poland 57.9Bn
United Arab Emirates 57.4Bn
Iraq 54.1Bn
Libya 51.7Bn
Peru 48.4Bn
Malaysia 45.5Bn
Canada 41.7Bn
Denmark 41.4Bn
Qatar 38.7Bn
Sweden 37.7Bn
Lebanon 34.1Bn
Colombia 31.9Bn
South Africa 28.5Bn
Vietnam 25.1Bn
Kuwait 25.0Bn
Czech Republic 24.9Bn
Angola 23.8Bn
Chile 23.5Bn
Hungary 23.4Bn
Kazakhstan 22.2Bn
Romania 21.6Bn
Bangladesh 19.5Bn
Norway 17.8Bn
Azerbaijan 14.6Bn
Uruguay 14.5Bn
Bolivia 13.3Bn
Oman 12.0Bn
Bulgaria 11.4Bn
Australia 10.7Bn
Jordan 10.6Bn
Macao SAR, China 9.8Bn
Nigeria 8.9Bn
New Zealand 7.0Bn
Croatia 6.6Bn
Trinidad and Tobago 6.6Bn
Kenya 6.1Bn
Paraguay 5.7Bn
Sri Lanka 5.5Bn
Cambodia 5.0Bn
Lithuania 4.9Bn
Costa Rica 4.9Bn
Nepal 4.7Bn
Afghanistan 4.5Bn
Congo, Rep. 4.2Bn
Bahrain 4.2Bn
Belarus 3.7Bn
Morocco 3.7Bn
Ghana 3.7Bn
Myanmar 3.6Bn
Guatemala 3.6Bn
Argentina 3.3Bn
Pakistan 3.2Bn
Brunei Darussalam 3.2Bn
Iceland 3.1Bn
Tunisia 2.9Bn
Dominican Republic 2.9Bn
Panama 2.8Bn
Mauritius 2.5Bn
Zambia 2.5Bn
Ethiopia 2.5Bn
Tanzania 2.3Bn
Bosnia and Herzegovina 2.3Bn
Georgia 2.2Bn
Cameroon 2.2Bn
Mozambique 2.1Bn
Botswana 2.0Bn
Uganda 2.0Bn
Haiti 1.8Bn
Gabon 1.8Bn
Ecuador 1.8Bn
North Macedonia 1.6Bn
Papua New Guinea 1.6Bn
Moldova 1.6Bn
Nicaragua 1.5Bn
Congo, Dem. Rep. 1.4Bn
Kyrgyz Republic 1.3Bn
Mongolia 1.3Bn
Albania 1.2Bn
Honduras 1.1Bn
Lao PDR 909.8Mn
Guinea 887.6Mn
Latvia 868.4Mn
Namibia 865.1Mn
Chad 844.6Mn
El Salvador 841.5Mn
Armenia 820.0Mn
Equatorial Guinea 804.3Mn
Bhutan 777.7Mn
Rwanda 688.2Mn
Fiji 595.1Mn
Mauritania 565.0Mn
Lesotho 551.7Mn
Liberia 496.7Mn
Suriname 483.3Mn
Malawi 450.9Mn
Eswatini 446.9Mn
Maldives 438.4Mn
Sierra Leone 430.3Mn
Guyana 416.1Mn
Belize 415.5Mn
Seychelles 408.8Mn
Solomon Islands 401.1Mn
Aruba 355.5Mn
Cabo Verde 336.5Mn
Tajikistan 323.7Mn
Djibouti 303.9Mn
Jamaica 303.2Mn
Madagascar 292.5Mn
Bahamas, The 288.0Mn
St. Kitts and Nevis 255.6Mn
Burundi 216.6Mn
Antigua and Barbuda 169.7Mn
Serbia 163.0Mn
Timor-Leste 158.2Mn
St. Lucia 141.3Mn
Vanuatu 116.8Mn
Central African Republic 114.6Mn
Tonga 111.9Mn
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 87.9Mn
Eritrea 86.9Mn
Comoros 85.1Mn
Grenada 75.7Mn
Micronesia, Fed. Sts. 64.2Mn
Gambia, The 61.0Mn
Dominica 52.3Mn
San Marino 44.3Mn
Samoa 44.0Mn
Sao Tome and Principe 36.8Mn
Barbados 28.8Mn
Montenegro -27.4Mn
Kosovo -176.7Mn
Yemen, Rep. -796.8Mn
Sudan -1.7Bn
Egypt, Arab Rep. -6.9Bn
Venezuela, RB -8.3Bn
Ukraine -11.8Bn

Percent Change in Foreign Exchange Reserves

The following table presents the countries with the largest percent change in the forex reserves between 2005 and 2014. Percentage increase (or decrease) of the forex reserves give a better view of the performance of the economy than an absolute value.

Country Percent increase in forex reserves
Liberia 19.6
Azerbaijan 12.4
Congo, Dem. Rep. 10.9
Guinea 9.2
Qatar 8.5
Switzerland 8.5
Haiti 8.3
Mauritania 8.0
Angola 7.5
Bolivia 7.4
Seychelles 7.3
Bangladesh 6.9
Brunei Darussalam 6.4
Belize 5.8
Brazil 5.8
Congo, Rep. 5.7
Uruguay 4.7
Georgia 4.6
Zambia 4.5
Iraq 4.4
Paraguay 4.4
Cambodia 4.3
Solomon Islands 4.2
Myanmar 4.1
Mongolia 4.0
Saudi Arabia 3.7
China 3.7
Chad 3.7
St. Kitts and Nevis 3.6
Peru 3.4
Suriname 3.4
Djibouti 3.4
Kenya 3.4
Philippines 3.3
Kazakhstan 3.1
Eritrea 3.1
Nepal 3.0
Lao PDR 2.9
Iceland 2.9
Vietnam 2.8
Belarus 2.8
Namibia 2.8
Oman 2.7
United Arab Emirates 2.7
Malawi 2.7
Rwanda 2.7
Gabon 2.7
Moldova 2.6
Sierra Leone 2.5
Kuwait 2.5
Tonga 2.4
Ethiopia 2.4
Panama 2.3
Maldives 2.3
Cameroon 2.3
Indonesia 2.2
Kyrgyz Republic 2.2
Burundi 2.2
Algeria 2.1
Colombia 2.1
Nicaragua 2.1
Costa Rica 2.1
Papua New Guinea 2.1
Israel 2.1
Lebanon 2.0
Bahrain 2.0
Thailand 2.0
Sri Lanka 2.0
Jordan 1.9
Ghana 1.9
Cabo Verde 1.9
Mozambique 1.9
Mauritius 1.9
Fiji 1.9
Eswatini 1.8
Vanuatu 1.7
Tajikistan 1.7
Bhutan 1.7
Guyana 1.7
Hong Kong SAR, China 1.6
Mexico 1.6
Dominican Republic 1.5
Sweden 1.5
Afghanistan 1.5
Uganda 1.5
Macao SAR, China 1.5
Turkey 1.4
Chile 1.4
South Africa 1.4
Sao Tome and Principe 1.4
Poland 1.4
India 1.4
Antigua and Barbuda 1.3
Trinidad and Tobago 1.3
Bulgaria 1.3
United States 1.3
Lithuania 1.3
Micronesia, Fed. Sts. 1.3
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 1.3
Canada 1.3
Hungary 1.3
Libya 1.2
Armenia 1.2
Singapore 1.2
Denmark 1.2
St. Lucia 1.2
North Macedonia 1.2
Tanzania 1.1
Russian Federation 1.1
United Kingdom 1.1
Aruba 1.1
Dominica 1.1
Lesotho 1.1
Timor-Leste 1.0
Romania 1.0
Comoros 1.0
Guatemala 0.9
Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.9
Albania 0.9
Czech Republic 0.8
Ecuador 0.8
Grenada 0.8
Central African Republic 0.8
New Zealand 0.8
Croatia 0.8
Korea, Rep. 0.7
Tunisia 0.6
Malaysia 0.6
Gambia, The 0.6
Madagascar 0.6
Samoa 0.6
Bahamas, The 0.5
Japan 0.5
Honduras 0.5
El Salvador 0.5
Equatorial Guinea 0.4
Norway 0.4
Latvia 0.4
Botswana 0.3
Nigeria 0.3
Pakistan 0.3
Australia 0.2
Morocco 0.2
Jamaica 0.1
San Marino 0.1
Argentina 0.1
Barbados 0.0
Serbia 0.0
Montenegro -0.0
Yemen, Rep. -0.1
Kosovo -0.2
Venezuela, RB -0.3
Egypt, Arab Rep. -0.3
Ukraine -0.6
Sudan -0.9