The 10 Countries Sitting On The Biggest Piles Of Gold

Central banks have been diversifying their foreign reserves to include gold. 

Global central banks bought 534.6 metric tons of gold last year.

The World Gold Council reports that official global gold holdings increased to 31,671.4 tonnes as of March.

We pulled the numbers on the 10 biggest official reserves.

Note: CBGA refers to the Central Bank Gold Agreements. The first Agreement (CBGA 1) ran from September 27, 1999 to September 26, 2004.  The second Agreement (CBGA 2) ran from September 27, 2004 to September 26, 2009. The third Agreement (CBGA 3) will run for five years from September 2009.

7. Russia

Official gold holdings: 969.9 tonnes

Percent of foreign reserves in gold:
9.8 percent

Russia has been building its gold reserves since 2006 to diversify its Forex reserves, and to help build the ruble as an international reserve currency. In 2012, Russia added around 75 tonnes to its reserve holdings, mostly by purchasing domestically produced gold.