Gold reserves of national central banks per capita in Europe

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

Most national central banks in Europe hold a large amount of reserves in the form of foreign banknotes and deposits, treasury bills, gold, and other assets, which are called international reserves (or foreign-exchange reserves in popular usage, which, technically speaking, should only refer to reserves held in a foreign currency).

The main reason for a central bank to hold any kind of reserve is to be able to implement its monetary policy, and gold reserves may expand or shrink as central bankers see fit, so differences in the size of gold reserves (and foreign-exchange reserves in general) do not necessarily indicate differences in the wealth of nations.

The map above shows gold reserves of European national central banks in grams per capita as of May 2017; that is, if a central bank were to distribute the gold it possesses to all inhabitants of the country equally, every inhabitant would receive the amount shown in the map.

Source: https://jakubmarian.com/wp-content/u...ita-europe.jpg



Rank European Countries Gold holdings
(in tonnes)


1 Germany 3,377.9
2 Italy 2,451.8
3 France 2,435.8
4 Russia 1,655.4
5 Switzerland 1,040.0
6 Netherlands 612.5
7 Portugal 382.5
8 United Kingdom 310.3
9 Spain 281.6
10 Austria 280.0
11 Belgium 227.4
12 Sweden 125.3
13 Greece 112.8
14 Romania 103.7
15 Poland 103.0

[Kamal900]

Good for the Portuguese people of Portugal and the rest of the world.

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

Good for the Portuguese people of Portugal and the rest of the world.

Portuguese gold reserves are worth €13 billion on the open market and it is the world’s second largest gold reserve in relation to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, and has increased in value by €1.4 billion in just one year. It is only meant to be used on extreme-case scenarios.

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

The U.S.A. has by far the highest gold reserves (8,133.5 tonnes) in the world, as much as Germany, Italy and France combined. In Asia, China, Japan and India lead.

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

Another curiosity: a big portion of our gold bars look like the one above. We got it from Nazi Germany in exchange for Tungsten (Wolfram), we are the largest producer in Europe even nowadays.

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

How Salazar played the Nazi war machine

As last weekend’s report on the increase in Portugal’s gold reserves probably raised very little interest among Portuguese families watching the evening news, the truth as to how this country amassed so much wealth is spectacularly played down.

The trump card was wolfram – a rare ore almost uniquely mined in Portugal that was used to harden steel, and was thus a vital component to the German armaments industry.
Wily dictator António de Oliveira Salazar realised that if he sold Portugal’s wolfram for money, the Nazis would be more than likely to use forged notes, so he demanded gold, and the lucrative trade continued right up to the eve of D Day.
Initial post-war efforts by the Allies to assess the exact quantity of gold that Portugal had received “and to persuade Lisbon to return it, soon ran into trouble”, Lochery writes, with Salazar and later Mário Soares (1999) claiming it had been received in payment for “legitimate trade” with the Germans, and would therefore be staying right where it was.

[Mazik]

I was once holding a 12.5 kilo gold bar

[Albobalboa]

I was once holding a 12.5 kilo gold bar

You held more gold than Croatia's, Moldova's, and Norway's central banks combined.