Top 10 Countries in the World with the Lowest Foreign Exchange and Gold Reserves in 2025

Foreign exchange and gold reserves are key indicators of a country’s financial stability. These reserves allow governments to meet import obligations, service external debt, and maintain confidence in their currency.

Conversely, low reserves leave nations vulnerable to currency depreciation, external shocks, and limited investment capacity.

Data from Global Firepower for 2025 show that the world’s largest reserve holders have immense financial buffers.

China leads with approximately US$3.45 trillion, followed by Japan with US$1.295 trillion, Switzerland with US$863.9 billion, the United States with US$773.4 billion, and India with US$627.8 billion. These figures highlight the significant advantage held by countries with substantial reserves.

In contrast, the nations with the lowest reserves operate with extremely limited financial flexibility, often measured in tens or low hundreds of millions of US dollars. Such narrow margins mean that currency fluctuations, declining export revenues, or rising import costs can have severe consequences.

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Among the countries with the smallest reserves in 2025 are Somalia, Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe. Other nations on the list include South Sudan, Sudan, Chad, Eritrea, Syria, Central African Republic, and Belize, all of which hold reserves in the low hundreds of millions or less.

Low reserves constrain a government’s ability to manage currency pressures, fund emergency imports, or attract foreign investment. They also correlate with higher risks of inflation, currency depreciation, and debt stress. In short, while large reserves signal economic strength, minimal reserves indicate vulnerability.

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The following table lists the ten countries with the lowest recorded foreign exchange and gold reserves in 2025, providing a clear perspective on the financial challenges faced by these economies in a volatile global environment.

10 Countries with the Lowest Foreign Exchange and Gold Reserves