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 |