COFER data are available beginning 1995 on annual and monthly bases, while quarterly data begin from 1999Q1 onwards. Prior to 1995, annual data are published in the International Reserves appendix of historical IMF Annual Reports. “All others” (yellow in the chart below) are a large group of currencies, whose combined share has soared to 4.2% in Q2, from 2.5% at the end of 2019, the biggest gainer, composed of currencies that are not listed separately in the IMF’s data. Here we hold a magnifying glass over the colorful tangle in the chart above. And what we see is that these other currencies, except for the Chinese RMB, have been gaining share since 2015, while the dollar has been losing share and the euro has been hanging on to its share. Over the past 10 years, the dollar’s share has dropped by about 8 percentage points, from 66% in 2015 to 58.2% in 2024 so far.
The other major reserve currencies.
If this pace continues, the dollar’s share will kiss 50% in 10 years. The list of reporters includes the names of participating countries/economies that have agreed to have their names disclosed as COFER reporters. IMF Data is known for its high standard of quality and methodological consistency.
- You may continue to access the retiring system at legacydata.imf.org until May 31, 2025.
- Prior to 1995, annual data are published in the International Reserves appendix of historical IMF Annual Reports.
- At the same time, statistical tests do not indicate an accelerating decline in the dollar’s reserve share, contrary to claims that US financial sanctions have accelerated movement away from the greenback.
- COFER includes a list of the participating economies that agreed to disclose their names.
- Although COFER is a very valuable tool for forex analysis, it is usefulness is limited by a number of factors.
But China’s renminbi keeps losing ground.
The share of US dollar holdings in the allocated reserves increased to 57.80 percent from 57.30 percent in 2024Q3, due to the depreciation of reserve currencies against the US dollar. The IMF conducts the COFER survey on a quarterly basis and publishes at theend of every quarter the aggregate data for the previous quarter. The report covers the reserve composition of 149 nations, divided into the three categories of “world”, “advanced economies”, and “emerging and developing economies”. Reserve composition of reporting central banks in each category is then detailed further into the following items.
COFER data are reported to the IMF on a voluntary and confidential basis by central banks from over 140 economies. At present there are 149 reporters, consisting of the monetary authorities of IMF member countries and non-IMF member countries/economies; and of other foreign exchange reserves holding entities. COFER includes a list of the participating economies that axitrader review agreed to disclose their names. SDDS Plus adherents are required to participate in the COFER database and to disclose their participation. The data published on this website are aggregates for each currency for the world, advanced economies, and emerging markets and developing economies. Starting 2015Q2, the IMF decided to cease the publication of the latter two geographical breakdowns to avoid possible residual disclosure of individual data with the release of the list of countries who have agreed to publish their names as COFER reporters.
Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER)
COFER data are publicly disseminated on aquarterly frequency in aggregate format so as to safeguard individualcountry information. In our 2022 paper, we identified 46 “active diversifiers,” defined as countries with a share of foreign exchange reserves in nontraditional currencies of at least 5 percent at the end of 2020. These include major advanced economies and emerging markets, including most of the Group of Twenty (G20) economies. By 2023, at least three more countries (Israel, Netherlands, Seychelles) have joined this list. That work also showed that the demand for gold by central banks responded positively to global economic policy uncertainty and global geopolitical risk.
At the same time, statistical tests do not indicate an accelerating decline in the dollar’s reserve share, contrary to claims that US financial sanctions have accelerated movement away from the greenback. To be sure, it is possible, as some have argued, that the same countries that are seeking to move away from holding dollars for geopolitical reasons do not report information on the composition of their reserve portfolios to COFER. Note, however, that the 149 reporting economies make up as much as 93 percent of global FX reserves. In other words, non-reporters are only a very small share of global reserves. The US dollar, still the #1 reserve currency held by central banks, keeps losing share in bits and pieces ever so slowly against a mix of other reserve currencies as central banks diversify their holdings of dollar-denominated assets to assets denominated in other currencies. COFER data are reported to the IMF on a voluntary and confidential basis.At present, there are 146 reporters, consisting of IMF member countries, anumber of non-member countries/economies, and other entities holdingforeign exchange reserves.
The share of USD-denominated foreign exchange reserves – assets that central banks other than the Fed hold that are denominated in USD – ticked down to 58.2% of total exchange reserves in Q2, the lowest share since 1995, according to the IMF’s new COFER data. The share of Chinese renminbi holdings in the allocated reserves was 2.18—unchanged from the previous quarter. Dollar dominance—the outsized role of the US dollar in the world economy—has been brought into focus recently as the robustness of the US economy, tighter monetary policy and heightened geopolitical risk have contributed to a higher greenback valuation. At the same time, economic fragmentation and the potential reorganization of global economic and financial activity into separate, nonoverlapping blocs could encourage some countries to use and hold other international and reserve currencies. Holdings in currencies other than USD are translated into USD at the exchange rate at the time.
So the exchange rates between the USD and other reserve currencies change the magnitude of the non-USD assets – but not of the USD-assets. Central banks have not been “dumping” their dollar-assets – in dollar amounts, their dollar-holdings haven’t changed much and are not far off the peak in 2021. But as overall foreign exchange reserves grow, they’re taking on assets denominated in many alternative currencies, and the dollar’s share of the total declines.
The report is published by the IMF quarterly, and can be downloaded from the institution’s website. Monetary gold is not covered in the foreign exchange reserves reported in COFER, but gold is part of reserves assets, which is a broader concept than that of COFER. COFER data for individual countries are kept strictly confidential given the senstive nature of the data. Access to individual country data is limited to only four IMF staff on a need-to-know basis.
- By the 1990s, with inflation on decline for a decade, confidence returned, and central banks loaded up on dollar-denominated assets again, until the euro came along, which combined the major European reserve currencies into one, making it a solid alternative to the dollar.
- On the other hand, there is no other public report that covers the central bank segment of the forex market as comprehensively as the COFER report does.
- These include major advanced economies and emerging markets, including most of the Group of Twenty (G20) economies.
- The COFER database contains end-of-period quarterly data with a one-quarter lag.
- However, if the exchange rates had not moved, the euro share would have increased by 0.71 percentage point (p.p.).
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The chart shows the share of the USD at year end except in 2024, for which we use the Q2 figure. Real Effective Exchange Rates for February 2025 were released on March 31, 2025.
Gold has re-emerged as a favored central bank reserve asset.
It’s a central bank “reserve asset.” So it doesn’t really fit into this discussion of foreign exchange reserves. But it can replace foreign exchange reserves, such as Treasury securities, on a central bank balance sheet. The RMB is handicapped by capital controls and convertibility issues. Even the Australian dollar (brown) now has a larger share than the RMB. This report provides a comprehensive view of global currency reserves, showing both the overall allocation by currency (pie chart) and the trends in allocated reserves over time (stacked column chart with table). The Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves or COFER Report, is the most useful public source of data relating to central bank reserve allocations.
The ratio of reporting central banks to non-reporting banks is highest for Europe and the Western Hemisphere. Reporters are recommended to use end-of-period market exchange rates to convert their reserves denominated in non-U.S. By the 1990s, with inflation on decline for a decade, axitrader review confidence returned, and central banks loaded up on dollar-denominated assets again, until the euro came along, which combined the major European reserve currencies into one, making it a solid alternative to the dollar. The share of euro holdings in the allocated reserves decreased to 19.83 percent from 20.03 percent in 2024Q3. However, if the exchange rates had not moved, the euro share would have increased by 0.71 percentage point (p.p.).
First, the currency composition of each central bank is confidential. The report only provides aggregated data on the total reserves of all reporting central banks, and can be skewed in consequence of factors affecting a limited number of central banks. Second, since information is submitted to the COFER report on a voluntary basis, the data cannot be used as a random sample of central bank reserves.
COFER data are only published in the format of statistical aggregates. So it’s not one currency that’s gaining against the dollar; it’s that a lot of “nontraditional reserve currencies” are gaining share. The major alternatives to the USD and the EUR, the “nontraditional reserve currencies,” as the IMF calls them, are the colorful tangle at the bottom of coinbase exchange review the chart. The COFER database contains end-of-period quarterly data with a one-quarter lag. The COFER data in the format of statistical aggregates are released on the last business day of each quarter.
Strikingly, the reduced role of the US dollar over the last two decades has not been matched by increases in the shares of the other “big four” currencies—the euro, yen, and pound. Rather, it has been accompanied by a rise in the share of what we have called nontraditional reserve currencies, including the Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Chinese renminbi, South Korean won, Singaporean dollar, and the Nordic currencies. The most recent data extend this trend, which we had pointed out in an earlier IMF paper and blog.
