Albania ranks among countries with low gold reserves

Albania has a low weight of gold in its foreign exchange reserves. According to a report by bestbrokers.com, Albania ranks among the countries with the lowest weight of gold in terms of the structure of its foreign exchange reserves, but also in terms of the amount of gold in relation to the population.

Comparative data from the bestbrokers platform shows that in February this year, Albania had gold reserves totaling 3.73 tons. It accounted for 6.4% of the total value of the country's foreign exchange reserves.

Albania has a low share of gold in its reserve structure compared to most countries in the world, including countries in the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe.

Among the countries in the region for which the Bestbrokers report provides information, Serbia has the highest share of gold in the structure of its foreign exchange reserves, with 24.4% of the value of its foreign exchange reserves, followed by North Macedonia, with 16.8% of the specific share of its foreign exchange reserves. Only Bosnia and Herzegovina has a lower share than Albania, with 5.4% of the value of its foreign exchange reserves.

In general, European Union countries and the most developed economies have a high share of gold in the structure of their foreign exchange reserves, in some cases even more than 80% of it.

Albania also has a low amount of gold reserves per capita, with about 1.6 grams of gold per inhabitant. Even in this indicator, Albania is only behind Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has gold reserves of about 1.1 grams per capita. North Macedonia has gold reserves of 3.82 grams per capita, while Serbia has 8.12 grams per capita.

At the global level, the countries with the largest gold reserves are the USA, with 8,133 tons of gold, Germany, with 3,350 tons, Italy, with 2,452 tons, France, with 2,437 tons, China, with 2,322 tons, and Russia, with 2,299 tons.

Gold prices showed a strong upward trend last year, exceeding the level of 5300 USD per ounce. Meanwhile, during this year prices have declined and are currently near the level of 4100 USD per ounce. However, prices remain significantly increasing on an annual basis.

The increase in the price of gold has also had a positive effect on the balance sheet of the Bank of Albania.

According to the Central Bank's audited financial statements, the annual income from the revaluation of the gold reserve amounted to about 11.87 billion lek for 2025. Income from the change in the fair value of monetary gold increased by 109% compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, in November and December 2025, the Bank of Albania also decided to increase its gold reserves, purchasing new quantities for a total value of 2.98 billion lek.

The increase in the value of existing reserves and their expansion led to a significant increase in the Central Bank's gold reserves over the past year.

According to the latest data from the Bank of Albania, at the end of April the gold reserve was worth 463 million euros, up 48% compared to a year earlier./ Monitor