The US Dollar $ still Dominates Global Reserves

Although the world doesn’t officially have a global currency, the US dollar still represents the closest thing to it.

According to COFER (Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves) data disclosed on a quarterly basis by the International Monetary Fund, the US dollar accounted for around 59% of the roughly $11.971 trillion in global foreign exchange reserves allocated in Q3 of 2021. However, its share is falling, with a steady decline over the past decades. In 2000, the share of the US dollar was, for example, over 70%.

After the US dollar, the most common currency is the Euro, which currently accounts for around 1/5th of the world’s foreign exchange reserves. This is followed by the Japanese Yen and the Pound Sterling (United Kingdom), which constitute respectively 5.8% and 4.8% of the total amount of allocated reserves, respectively.