According to a report by the European Central Bank, gold has now surpassed US government bonds as the world's leading reserve asset. The study, released on Tuesday, indicates that by the end of 2025, gold's share of global central bank reserve assets reached 27%, up from 20% a year earlier. Over the same period, the share of US Treasury bonds fell from 25% to 22%. The proportion of euro-denominated reserve assets remained steady at 15%.

Reserve assets are highly liquid holdings used by central banks to support their domestic currency's exchange rate, meet international payment obligations, and provide liquidity during periods of financial stress. This shift in their composition reflects a growing effort by many nations to find alternatives to the US dollar, the de facto global reserve currency. The search for such alternatives has accelerated notably since 2022, when the US employed sanctions that froze dollar reserves following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, in the report issued on Tuesday, noted that geopolitical tensions continue to drive strong demand for gold among central banks.