Italy is the third country in the world for gold reserves, with an asset of around 2,452 tonnes of gold and an estimated value which, according to current prices, exceeds 300 billion euros – approximately 13% of the Italian GDP. Almost all of these reserves are made up of gold bars, kept partly in the Rome headquarters of the Bank of Italy and partly in foreign countries such as the United States, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Gold reserves primarily serve one function strategic-financial for the economic stability of a country: gold, in fact, is considered a “safe haven”, which maintains its value even in times of crisis, does not depend on governments or currencies and protects against inflation. Also for this reason, gold reserves are not used to repay public debt.
Let’s see the ranking of the top 10 countries in the world for gold reserves, which sees the United States and Germany in the first two positions.
The ranking of the top 10 countries in the world for gold reserves: Italy on the podium
In short, the main function of gold reserves is to act as a risk “stabiliser” in the financial portfolio of a State. In other words, such large quantities of gold allow a country to strengthen investor confidence in its financial stability – especially during periods of economic crisis – and ensure liquidity in the event of default.
In the world ranking of gold reserves, Italy is positioned as the third country globally, falling to fourth place if the reserves of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are also considered. Above us only the United States, with approximately 8,133 tons, and Germany, with approximately 3,355 tons.
A large part of the Italian gold reserve, approximately 95.47%, is made up of gold bars, while the remaining part is made up of coins. Our gold reserves are not held exclusively in Italy: 44.86% (1,100 tonnes) is actually held in the vaults of the Bank of Italy in Rome, 43.29% (1,061.5 tonnes) is held in the United States, 6.09% (149.3 tonnes) is held in Switzerland and the remaining 5.76% (141.2 tonnes) is held in the United Kingdom.
Our country, among other things, hosts several gold deposits in Monte Rosa, now abandoned due to their size and inaccessibility.
Because gold reserves are not used to repay public debt
As anticipated, with the current gold prices, the value of the Italian gold reserve exceeds 300 billion euroswhich correspond to approximately 13% of our GDP. At this point it may be natural to ask: with a public debt that in August 2025 reached 3,082 billion euros (around 135% of GDP) according to data provided by the Bank of Italy, why isn’t part of the Italian gold reserve used to partially repay the debt?
The answer is linked to what we said previously: the gold managed by the Bank of Italy (the institution that manages these reserves) is a strategic asset which acts as a guarantee for the financial stability and international credibility of our country, especially in cases where it is necessary to obtain a loan. Its primary function, therefore, is that of guarantee the economic solidity of Italy, not that of financing the state budget.
At the same time, we must also consider the possible repercussions on the gold market: selling approximately 2,452 tons of gold to obtain the capital necessary to repay the public debt would obviously destabilize the global gold market, which would therefore be flooded with an enormous quantity of this precious metal. For the economic principle of scarcity, this would immediately cause a cgold price rolleffectively canceling the expected profit from this sale. Today, in fact, gold is an increasingly scarce commodity, the value of which increases precisely during economic crises or uncertainty.
Among other things, even if our country were to choose to invest all its gold reserves to reduce public debt, this operation would only cover a minority fraction of the debt: the effect, therefore, would not only be temporary, but would also lead to the loss of a fundamental guarantee, without solving the structural problem of public debt.
