Gold Holdings In The Russian Central Bank's Reserves Have Fallen To A Six-year Low
- 20.08.2026, 21:10
The scale of the decline in gold reserves is virtually unprecedented in Russian history.
The Bank of Russia's gold reserves continue to decline sharply and, as of August 1 of this year, had fallen to 73.2 million troy ounces, or 2,280 metric tons, according to Bloomberg. This is the lowest level in more than six years—since January 2020. In July, reserves decreased by 0.2 million ounces, and since the beginning of the year, they have fallen by approximately 50 metric tons. Over the past seven months, the value of gold in the reserves has fallen by $33.7 billion.
The decline in reserves began after a long period of virtually uninterrupted growth. The Bank of Russia was the world’s largest government buyer of gold, but suspended purchases in early 2020, Bloomberg notes. According to the Central Bank, by early 2025, the amount of gold in international reserves had reached 75 million troy ounces. Throughout 2025, the figure remained virtually unchanged, but in 2026 it began to decline steadily: as of January 1, reserves stood at 74.8 million ounces; as of February 1, 74.5 million; as of March 1, 74.3 million; as of April 1, 74.1 million; as of May 1, 73.9 million; as of June 1—73.7 million, as of July 1—73.4 million, and as of August 1—73.2 million ounces.
The decline is attributable to the Bank of Russia’s operations in the domestic market, which mirror the Ministry of Finance’s transactions involving the National Wealth Fund (NWF). “When oil and gas revenues fall below the level stipulated by the budget rule, or when the fund’s resources are directed toward domestic investments, the Bank of Russia conducts offsetting operations using liquid reserve assets. In this case, the Central Bank handles the technical aspects of the mechanism rather than making a separate decision to cover the budget deficit by selling gold,” explained Vladimir Chernov, an analyst at Freedom Global.
Gold has proven to be one of the most convenient assets for such operations. Most of it is stored within Russia and remains accessible to the Bank of Russia. The ability to use part of the foreign exchange reserves is limited, however, following the freezing of approximately $300 billion in Russian assets abroad. The Central Bank does not want to “burn through” all of its remaining reserves in yuan, as economists Alexandra Prokopenko and Alexander Kolyandr previously noted.
The scale of the reduction in gold reserves is virtually unprecedented in Russian history. According to data from the World Gold Council, the Bank of Russia recorded a decline in reserves of comparable magnitude only in 2002: at that time, gold reserves fell by 36.1 metric tons over six months. Sales were lower during the pandemic: from July 2020 to April 2021, the Bank of Russia sold a total of 7.6 metric tons of gold.