BRICS gold reserves total over 6,000 tonnes right now, which actually represents around 20-21% of global central bank holdings. Russia holds 2,335.85 metric tons, China has 2,298.53 metric tons, and India maintains 879.98 metric tons, while Brazil has 129.65 metric tons and South Africa holds 125.47 metric tons. These BRICS gold reserves are being used to support de-dollarization efforts and reduce reliance on the US dollar in international trade.
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BRICS Gold Reserves, Holdings Growth, And Plans For Gold-Backed Currency

The combined BRICS gold holdings represent some of the largest gold holdings in the world by any economic bloc at the time of writing. Russia and China alone control about 74% of total BRICS gold reserves, with Russia ranking fifth globally and China coming in sixth. These nations have been actively engaged in BRICS buying gold to strengthen their financial positions against potential currency fluctuations.
India’s substantial reserves of 879.98 metric tons place it eighth worldwide, along with the smaller economies of Brazil and South Africa contributing 129.65 and 125.47 metric tons respectively. Egypt’s recent addition also brings another 128.54 metric tons to the collective pool, which further increases the bloc’s overall gold position.
Strategic Gold Accumulation For Alternative Currency
BRICS buying gold has accelerated dramatically over recent years, with their share growing from just 5% to 22% of global holdings between 2008 and 2021. This massive accumulation actually supports ongoing discussions around a potential BRICS gold-backed currency as an alternative to the current dollar-dominated system.
Financial expert James Rickards had this to say:
“If a BRICS currency unit is worth 1 ounce of gold and the gold price goes to US$3,000 per ounce, the BRICS currency unit would be worth US$3,000, while the dollar would lose value compared to the BRICS currency as measured by the weight of gold.”
However, he also clarified this wouldn’t be a traditional gold standard:
“With a real gold standard, you can take the currency and go to any one of the central banks and get some gold. With BRICS they don’t have to own any gold, they don’t have to buy any gold, they don’t have to prop up the price.”
Supporting De-Dollarization Through Gold Holdings
The substantial BRICS gold holdings have engineered multiple strategic purposes beyond just wealth storage right now, and these reserves have implemented stability against currency fluctuations while also catalyzing the bloc’s broader de-dollarization objectives in global finance. Through several key monetary strategies, these accumulation efforts have revolutionized approaches to reducing dollar dependence across numerous significant economic sectors.
How much gold do the BRICS have becomes particularly relevant when considering their plans to accelerate dollar independence initiatives. The combined 6,000+ tonnes have positioned them as players who are capable of architecting alternative monetary systems with real assets rather than just government promises and also transforming fiat currency dependencies.
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Across various major financial sectors, current efforts have spearheaded development of alternative payment systems and leveraged bilateral trade in local currencies. While a unified BRICS gold-backed currency faces infrastructure challenges, the massive gold reserves have established the foundation for future monetary alternatives that actually revolutionized global finance over time and also maximized strategic positioning against traditional Western financial systems.