1. Macroeconomy & Globalization
  2. Composition of Foreign Exchange Reserves

Composition of Foreign Exchange Reserves

According to the OECD, foreign exchange rate reserves are the stocks of foreign currency denominated assets plus gold, held by a central bank. More simply, they are the assets of the central bank held in currencies outside the home country currency.

Author: Tiziana Barghini

 RESERVES BY CURRENCY

(Scroll To The Right For Later Quarters)

  2012Q2 2012Q3 2012Q4 2013Q1 2013Q2 2013Q3 2013Q4 2014Q1 2014Q2 2014Q3 2014Q4 2015Q1 2015Q2
Total Foreign Exchange Holdings 10,534,386.45 10,787,907.14 10,953,119.28 11,093,218.59 11,134,074.64 11,442,882.41 11,683,390.10 11,849,395.75 11,983,681.97 11,759,726.04 11,590,710.54 11,435,021.99 11,459,664.46
Allocated Reserves 5,850,923.44 6,020,077.57 6,089,476.60 6,086,217.52 6,079,407.68 6,193,018.17 6,227,632.44 6,247,023.28 6,319,343.05 6,190,819.87 6,085,005.86 6,061,534.25 6,666,339.79
Claims in U.S. dollars 3,595,902.54 3,684,159.64 3,732,893.19 3,763,804.53 3,759,696.99 3,804,116.03 3,801,767.66 3,799,044.02 3,841,300.72 3,868,517.47 3,839,085.74 3,886,852.01 4,249,907.44
Claims in Pounds sterling 224,507.38 247,904.74 245,960.04 235,515.06 232,003.57 242,907.12 248,127.95 241,338.62 244,694.72 237,784.48 230,602.58 237,270.77 312,834.49
Claims in Japanese yen 230,873.07 256,849.56 248,780.47 236,159.13 233,389.02 235,225.36 237,958.03 245,490.91 254,114.82 243,010.57 237,090.21 254,074.29 255,394.50
Claims in Swiss francs 13,692.19 17,805.76 12,943.81 15,830.08 15,648.09 16,286.48 16,707.15 16,526.89 17,012.62 15,919.67 16,345.12 17,564.74 19,752.69
Claims in Canadian dollars     86,757.37 96,030.30 108,991.84 113,752.45 113,800.85 117,065.28 125,806.42 119,983.56 115,047.74 112,656.66 127,669.01
Claims in Australian dollars     88,608.51 101,077.13 102,459.74 103,975.37 112,904.52 118,396.71 121,021.88 115,916.42 108,233.32 104,878.44 126,756.07
Claims in Euros 1,460,365.87 1,456,701.26 1,474,434.20 1,432,685.39 1,449,644.60 1,493,501.80 1,518,475.60 1,519,836.36 1,520,489.02 1,394,103.99 1,346,875.56 1,261,965.61 1,366,994.81
Claims in other currencies 325,582.39 356,656.62 199,099.01 205,115.90 177,573.84 183,253.57 177,890.69 189,324.49 194,902.85 195,583.69 191,725.58 186,271.72 207,030.77
Unallocated Reserves 4,683,463.01 4,767,829.57 4,863,642.69 5,007,001.07 5,054,666.96 5,249,864.24 5,455,757.65 5,602,372.47 5,664,338.92 5,568,906.18 5,505,704.68 5,373,487.73 4,793,324.67
Shares of Allocated Reserves 55.54 55.80 55.60 54.86 54.60 54.12 53.30 52.72 52.73 52.64 52.50 53.01 58.17
Shares of U.S. dollars 61.46 61.20 61.30 61.84 61.84 61.43 61.05 60.81 60.79 62.49 63.09 64.12 63.75
Shares of Pound sterling 3.84 4.12 4.04 3.87 3.82 3.92 3.98 3.86 3.87 3.84 3.79 3.91 4.69
Shares of Japanese yen 3.95 4.27 4.09 3.88 3.84 3.80 3.82 3.93 4.02 3.93 3.90 4.19 3.83
Shares of Swiss francs 0.23 0.30 0.21 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.27 0.26 0.27 0.26 0.27 0.29 0.30
Shares of Canadian dollars     1.42 1.58 1.79 1.84 1.83 1.87 1.99 1.94 1.89 1.86 1.92
Shares of Australian dollars     1.46 1.66 1.69 1.68 1.81 1.90 1.92 1.87 1.78 1.73 1.90
Shares of Euros 24.96 24.20 24.21 23.54 23.85 24.12 24.38 24.33 24.06 22.52 22.13 20.82 20.51
Shares of other currencies 5.56 5.92 3.27 3.37 2.92 2.96 2.86 3.03 3.08 3.16 3.15 3.07 3.11
Shares of Unallocated Reserves 44.46 44.20 44.40 45.14 45.40 45.88 46.70 47.28 47.27 47.36 47.50 46.99 41.83
Memorandum Items                          
Exchange Rates (End of Period)                          
Pound Sterling Per U.S. Dollar 0.64 0.62 0.63 0.66 0.65 0.62 0.61 0.60 0.59 0.62 0.64 0.68 0.64
Japanese Yen Per U.S. Dollar 79.30 77.57 86.55 94.15 98.14 97.75 105.30 102.85 101.30 109.37 120.64 120.11 122.45
Swiss Franc Per U.S. Dollar 0.96 0.94 0.92 0.95 0.94 0.91 0.89 0.88 0.89 0.96 0.99 0.97 0.93
Canadian Dollar Per U.S. Dollar 1.02 0.98 1.00 1.02 1.05 1.03 1.06 1.11 1.07 1.12 1.16 1.27 1.24
Australian Dollar Per U.S. Dollar 0.98 0.96 0.96 0.96 1.08 1.07 1.13 1.08 1.06 1.14 1.22 1.31 1.30
Euro Per U.S. Dollar 0.79 0.77 0.76 0.78 0.76 0.74 0.73 0.73 0.73 0.79 0.82 0.93 0.89

Sources