BRICS+ holding 17% of world gold: reserve trends and supply notes for miners
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
BRICS+ central banks now hold about 6,000 tonnes of gold, or 17.4% of global reserves, up from 11.2% in 2019, with Russia (2,336 tonnes), China (2,298 tonnes) and India (880 tonnes) the largest holders. Annual official-sector gold buying has averaged roughly 1,000 tonnes over the past four years, doubling after 2022 sanctions on Russia, and BRICS+ countries accounted for more than half of purchases between 2020 and 2024. The report flags Saudi Arabia as a potential “wild card”, noting that a shift to a 5% gold allocation could alone match projected total central bank demand for 2026.
Technical Brief
- IMF COFER data show the US dollar’s reserve share fell from 71% (1999) to ~57% (end‑2025).
- Dollar‑denominated reserve holdings have been essentially flat since 2014, despite overall reserve growth.
- Gold’s share of official reserve assets has risen from <10% in 2015 to >23% today.
- World Gold Council’s 2025 survey: 73% of central bankers expect further dollar share declines within five years.
- Same survey: 43% of central banks plan to increase gold holdings, both record‑high sentiment readings.
- EBC notes Saudi Arabia adopting a 5% gold allocation would match projected total 2026 central‑bank demand.
Our Take
First Quantum’s Cobre Panama copper-gold mine, shuttered in 2023 and now expected to restart with stockpile processing in 2026 per our coverage, illustrates how supply disruptions in BRICS-adjacent Latin America can tighten physical markets just as BRICS+ central banks are absorbing over half of new official-sector gold demand.
India’s 880 t of gold reserves sit within a wider pattern in our database where Asian and Middle Eastern BRICS+ members, notably China and Saudi Arabia, are repeatedly cited as marginal buyers, which tends to underpin long-term floor prices that copper-gold project developers such as Eldorado Gold and Foran can use in financing cases.
With 73% of surveyed central bankers expecting further dollar reserve-share erosion and 43% planning to add gold, the reserve-shift dynamic captured here is increasingly referenced in our 560 keyword-matched gold and copper pieces as a strategic backdrop for M&A decisions, particularly for assets in Africa and Latin America where BRICS+ capital is active.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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