The Quiet Flip: World Just Chose Gold Over US Treasuries

According to Mettis Global, gold overtook US Treasury bonds as the largest official reserve asset held by the world's central banks by the end of 2025. The data appeared in the European Central Bank's annual review of the euro's international role, published in June 2026. Gold accounts for 27% of worldwide official reserves, against 22% for Treasuries, the first time since 1996 that the metal has outranked them.

Mettis Global also cited a World Gold Council survey in which 89% of central bankers anticipated that holdings would keep growing over the coming year. Central bank purchases jumped after sanctions froze Russia's reserves in 2022, with 1,082 tonnes bought that year, before easing to 863 tonnes in 2025. The same ECB review reportedly named Tether, the stablecoin issuer, as the largest single buyer of physical gold last year.

Mettis Global linked the trend to Pakistan's local market, where 24-karat gold reached Rs461,936 per tola in Karachi on August 19, up from Rs453,700 two trading sessions earlier. The international price remains far below its January high of $5,595 an ounce, while the rupee's depreciation against the dollar compounds the local rate. A Pakistani buyer also pays local making charges on top of the international price, a cost that central banks do not bear.