Foreign Exchange Reserves List: Which country has the highest foreign exchange reserves, know the situation of India?

Business Desk – Foreign Exchange Reserves List: The reserves of foreign exchange deposited with the Central Bank of any country are called ‘Foreign Exchange Reserves’ or ‘Forex Reserves’. These reserves can be in the form of dollars, yen or euros. Besides, these may also include gold or other assets. These reserves not only represent the currencies of other countries, but it would be more correct to call them the ‘economic shield’ of a country.

If a country’s domestic currency begins to fall in value, these foreign exchange reserves can be used to stabilize and support the value of that currency, typically by buying domestic currency by selling foreign currency. For example, when the value of the Indian rupee falls sharply, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intervenes to support the rupee by selling US dollars.

On the contrary, if a country does not have sufficient foreign exchange reserves, then there is a risk of instability in its currency and inflation starts increasing. These consequences inevitably have a negative impact on the entire economy of the country.

Which country has the largest foreign exchange reserves in the world?

By now you might have understood how important it is for the Central Bank of a country to have foreign exchange reserves. What a deep impact it has on the country’s economy. Let us now know which country currently has the largest foreign exchange reserves in the world. China’s name is at the top of this list.

Top 5 countries in terms of foreign exchange reserves

1. China ranks first in this list, with total foreign exchange reserves of $3,643,149 million.
2. Japan is at second place in this list, which has total foreign exchange reserves of $1,394,750 million.
3. Switzerland has total foreign exchange reserves of $1,077,735 million.
4. Russia has foreign exchange reserves of $755,400 million.
5. India is at fifth position. Which has foreign exchange reserves of $688,058 million. The reason behind China’s huge foreign exchange reserves.

The main reason why China has such large foreign exchange reserves is that most of its international trade is done in US dollars. Chinese companies earn their earnings in US dollars, which they then exchange through their domestic banking channels.

As a result, these dollars keep getting deposited in the Central Bank of China. These deposits are then often used to buy US government securities.

How much foreign exchange reserves does India have?

According to the data of August 2025, India has foreign exchange reserves of about $688,058 million. There is continuous improvement in India’s ranking.