Gold has overtaken U.S. government bonds as the world's top reserve asset, according to the European Central Bank.
Gold now accounts for 27% of all reserve assets, an increase of seven percentage points compared to the previous year. U.S. Treasuries, in turn, fell by three points, clocking in at 22% over the same period. Euro-denominated reserve assets remained unchanged at 15%.
The Financial Times noted that the shift illustrates an attempt by several countries to stop having the U.S. dollar as its reserve currency. It went on to note that efforts have increased since 2022, when the U.S. used sanctions to freeze Russia's dollar reserves after it invaded Ukraine.
Central banks are now holding more than 36,000 tons of gold. Purchases stood at 850 tons in 2025 following three years of purchases of more than 1,000 tons. The biggest buyers since 2022 were China, Poland, Turkey and India.
The largest buyer was not a sovereign country, however: it was stablecoin company Tether, which bought more than 100 tons of gold. At the same time, Turkey sold or loaned 130 tons after the beginning of the Iran war, what the ECB described as "one of the largest reserve drawdowns in recent years."
"Geopolitical tensions continue to drive strong central bank demand for gold," ECB president Christine Lagarde wrote in a passage of the report.
However, the document also noted that dollar-denominated assets still top the list in terms of the reserves' worth, clocking in at 42%.
The price of gold has soared over the course of the decade, climbing more than 135% in the past five years despite being considered a reserve of value. It has dropped since a peak of almost $5,300 to about $4,500 currently, but it could go back to climbing if the war in Iran ends, analysts said recently.
Ross Norman, CEO of precious metals website Metals Daily, told CNBC that the possibility that interest rates rise again, a stronger U.S. dollar and traders exiting positions contributed to declines this year.
"If you look at March, when equities were selling, for an investor with some allocation in gold during that period, you were sitting on pretty strong returns in gold, and you could perhaps take some off the table to cover some of your equity losses," Francis Tan, chief Asia strategist at Indosuez Wealth Management, told the outlet.
