Gold Surpasses U.S. Treasuries in Central Bank Reserves for First Time Since 1996
Central banks are ditching Treasuries and doubling down on bullion, triggering a seismic shift in global wealth protection.
For the first time since the Clinton administration was rocking pagers and dial-up modems, the world’s central banks collectively hold more gold by value than U.S. Treasury securities in their official reserves. Yes, you read that correctly. The asset once dismissed as a “barbarbarian relic” has officially dethroned the cornerstone of modern finance.
According to the latest 2025 data from the World Gold Council and the International Monetary Fund, central bank gold reserves crossed the $4.4 trillion mark in the final quarter of the year, while foreign official holdings of U.S. Treasuries slipped below $3.4 trillion amid the sharpest sustained sell-off since the global financial crisis. The crossover, confirmed in late November 2025, marks the first time since 1996 that the yellow metal has claimed the top spot.
The shift is not subtle. Central banks purchased a net 634 tonnes of gold through the first three quarters of 2025 alone, putting the year on pace to rival the record 1,082 tonnes bought in 2022. That buying now represents roughly 25 percent of total annual gold demand, two and a half times the pre-2020 average. Poland added 67 tonnes this year, Azerbaijan 34 tonnes, and even traditionally conservative institutions in Western Europe have quietly joined the queue.

