Italy Gold Reserves: How Much Gold Does Italy Have?

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Italy holds 2,451.8 tonnes of gold, the third-largest official gold reserve in the world after the United States and Germany. The gold is held and managed by the Banca d’Italia (Bank of Italy). It keeps just under half of it in the vaults of its Rome headquarters, Palazzo Koch, and most of the rest at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Italy’s gold holdings have not changed since 1999, when the Bank of Italy transferred part of its gold to the European Central Bank as the euro was launched. Unlike several other European central banks, it did not sell any gold in the decades that followed.

Who controls the gold has been a political question in Italy for years. In 2025 Italy added a provision to the 2026 budget law declaring that the reserves belong to the Italian people, after the European Central Bank twice warned about the risk to central bank independence. This page explains how much gold Italy has, where Italy’s gold reserves are stored, who owns them, how the reserve was built, and how the gold is checked.

How Much Gold Does Italy Have?

Italy has 2,451.8 tonnes of gold, according to the Bank of Italy and the World Gold Council. That is about 78.8 million troy ounces, worth roughly €290 billion at current prices. The figure has been the same since 1999.

Italy’s gold reserves	Figure
Total gold holdings	2,451.8 tonnes
In troy ounces	About 78.8 million oz
Approximate value	About €290 billion
Share of total reserves	79.33%
World ranking	3rd (4th if the IMF is included)
Held in Italy	44.86% (about 1,100 tonnes)
Gold per resident	About 42 grams
Last change in holdings	1999 (transfer to the ECB)

The Bank of Italy usually rounds the total to 2,452 tonnes, while the World Gold Council and the IMF list it as 2,451.8 tonnes. Both describe the same holding. Most of it is in standard large bars, 95,493 of them according to the Bank of Italy, with a small amount in gold coins.

Italy holds slightly more gold than France, at 2,437 tonnes, but far less than Germany at 3,350 tonnes or the US at 8,133 tonnes. Gold also makes up most of Italy’s official reserves, as it does for the other large European holders. That is far above most central banks, including China’s official gold reserves, which make up less than 10% of reserves.

Spread across a population of around 58.9 million, Italy’s reserve works out at about 42 grams of gold per person. That is slightly more than Germany’s 40 grams and well above France at about 35 grams and the US at about 24 grams, but far below Switzerland’s 115 grams.

Where Is Italy’s Gold Stored?

Italy’s gold is split between four locations. The Bank of Italy keeps just under half of it in Rome. Almost as much is held in the United States, and smaller amounts are in Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Unlike many central banks, the Bank of Italy publishes the full breakdown.

Location	Share	Tonnes
Italy (Rome)	44.86%	1,100.0
United States	43.29%	1,061.5
Switzerland	6.09%	149.3
United Kingdom	5.76%	141.2
Total	100%	2,451.8

Source: Banca d’Italia.

The gold in Italy is held in the vaults beneath Palazzo Koch, the Bank of Italy’s headquarters on Via Nazionale in central Rome. (For the vault’s history and layout, see our guide to the Banca d’Italia gold vault in Rome.) The US holding is at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That makes Italy one of the largest foreign holders of gold there, alongside Germany. The UK holding is at the Bank of England, and the Swiss holding is with a central bank in Switzerland.

The Bank of Italy says it keeps gold with other leading central banks to spread its risk and to make the gold quicker to use if it is ever needed. Gold already held in a major market centre such as New York or London can be sold, lent or pledged as collateral without first being shipped. Much of Italy’s foreign gold was bought in the 1950s and 1960s, during the Bretton Woods era, and has stayed where it was bought.

Calls to Repatriate Italy’s Gold

Keeping so much gold in New York has drawn criticism in Italy, especially since 2025. That year, the Taxpayers Association of Europe urged both Italy and Germany to bring their gold home from the US, citing concerns about relying on the Federal Reserve. The Italian economic commentator Enrico Grazzini wrote that keeping 43% of Italy’s gold in America was “very dangerous for the national interest.”

The Bank of Italy has not announced any plans to move its gold. Other countries have chosen differently. Germany brought 300 tonnes home from New York between 2013 and 2017. In 2025–26 France replaced its last 129 tonnes in New York with bars held in Paris, leaving virtually all of France’s gold reserves at home.

Who Owns Italy’s Gold?

The question of who owns Italian gold reserves has a more complicated answer than in most countries. In France, the gold belongs to the State and the central bank manages it. In Italy, the law assigns ownership of the official reserves to the Bank of Italy itself, and the bank records the gold on its own balance sheet.

The Bank of Italy is a public-law institution, but it is not wholly owned by the State. Its €7.5 billion of share capital is held by Italian banks, insurance companies, banking foundations, pension funds and social security bodies. Since a 2014 reform, no shareholder can have voting or dividend rights above a capped stake, currently 5%. Shareholders receive limited dividends and have no say in monetary policy or reserve management. After those dividends, the bank’s remaining profits go to the State.

That structure has long worried some Italian politicians, who argue that private banks could one day lay claim to the nation’s gold.

The 2019 Debate

In early 2019, the governing League party revived the issue. League economist and MP Claudio Borghi put forward legislation declaring the gold to be the property of the State, and said the government would not sell “a gram” of it. Around the same time, newspaper reports suggested part of the gold could be used to narrow the budget deficit. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini called it “an interesting idea.” The European Central Bank warned that limiting the Bank of Italy’s control over its reserves would be incompatible with EU treaties, and the proposals stalled.

The 2025 Budget Law

The issue returned in November 2025. Senator Lucio Malan of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party proposed an amendment to the 2026 budget. It stated that the gold reserves “belong to the State, on behalf of the Italian people.” The party said its aim was to stop foreign entities with stakes in the Bank of Italy from claiming any rights over the gold. It denied any plan to sell it.

The ECB issued two legal opinions in December 2025. It asked Italy to reconsider and said the purpose of the amendment was unclear. The government softened the wording. The final text says that the gold reserves “managed and held by the Bank of Italy, as recorded on its balance sheet, belong to the Italian people”. It also says this applies without prejudice to the EU treaty articles protecting central bank independence and banning central banks from financing governments. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti described it as a statement of “a political principle” and said the matter was closed after discussions with ECB President Christine Lagarde.

The provision became law as part of Italy’s 2026 budget, passed on 30 December 2025. In practice little has changed: the gold stays on the Bank of Italy’s balance sheet, and the bank still manages it independently within the Eurosystem.

Could Italy Sell Its Gold to Pay Its Debt?

Italy’s gold is sometimes suggested as a way to reduce its public debt, one of the highest in Europe at around €3 trillion. In practice it would make only a modest difference: at around €290 billion, the gold is worth less than a tenth of the debt. EU rules also stand in the way. Article 123 of the EU treaty bans central banks from financing governments, and any transfer of gold or gold profits to the Treasury could breach it. The Bank of Italy itself describes its gold as a reserve of last resort. It could be used as collateral for loans, as happened in 1976, or in an emergency sold to defend the currency.

History of Italy’s Gold Reserves

The Bank of Italy was created in 1893 from the merger of three banks of issue. It started with 78 tonnes of gold. Italy was already part of the Latin Monetary Union with France, Belgium and Switzerland, whose members minted gold coins to a common standard. That is why Italy’s 20-lire gold coin has the same weight and purity as the French 20 francs and the Swiss 20-franc Vreneli. In 1926 the Bank of Italy became the country’s only bank of issue and took over the gold reserves of the Banco di Napoli and Banco di Sicilia, about 70 tonnes combined.

The reserve grew to more than 561 tonnes by 1933. The rest of the decade drained it, despite the regime’s efforts to protect and add to it. These included the 1935 Oro alla Patria (Gold for the Fatherland) campaign, which asked Italians to hand over their wedding rings and other gold. The war in Ethiopia and the sanctions that followed meant Italy had to pay for many of its imports in gold. By the time Italy entered the Second World War in 1940, the Bank of Italy’s reserve had fallen to just 106 tonnes.

The War Years

After Italy’s armistice with the Allies in September 1943, German forces occupying the north pressured the bank to move its gold from Rome to Milan. From there, 92.3 tonnes were taken to Fortezza, in the South Tyrol, and German forces removed large amounts to Germany in several stages. When the Allies recovered the remaining gold at Fortezza in May 1945, only about 22 tonnes were left. After the war, the Tripartite Commission for the Restitution of Monetary Gold returned part of the gold to Italy, in 1946 and 1958. According to the Bank of Italy, the war still cost it about 25 tonnes.

Building the Reserve After the War

Italy’s present reserve was built during the “economic miracle” of the 1950s and 1960s. Strong exports brought in large amounts of US dollars, and under the Bretton Woods system these could be converted into gold. Most of the buying was done by the Ufficio Italiano dei Cambi (UIC), the foreign exchange office, which accumulated almost 2,000 tonnes between 1951 and 1960. In 1960 and 1965, 1,890 tonnes were transferred from the UIC to the Bank of Italy, taking its holdings to 2,136 tonnes. They reached a peak of 2,565 tonnes in 1973.

The 1970s: Gold as Collateral

The oil crisis of the 1970s hit Italy hard, with soaring import bills, high inflation and pressure on the lira. In 1976, 543 tonnes of the bank’s gold were transferred to the UIC to secure a loan from Germany’s Bundesbank. This is one of the best-known examples of a central bank using its gold as collateral. The gold was released between 1977 and 1979 as the loan was repaid.

In 1979, when the European Monetary System was set up, Italy, like other member states, transferred 20% of its gold and dollar reserves to the European Monetary Cooperation Fund in exchange for ECUs, the forerunner of the euro. That amounted to about 517 tonnes. This left 1,505 tonnes on the Bank of Italy’s books until the late 1990s.

The Euro and the ECB Transfer

In the run-up to the euro, the Bank of Italy rebuilt its holdings. In 1997 it bought the UIC’s remaining 570 tonnes, and in 1998 another 518 tonnes came back when the ECU arrangements were wound up. At the start of 1999 it transferred 141 tonnes to the newly created European Central Bank as part of its share of the ECB’s reserves. That left the 2,451.8 tonnes Italy holds today.

Italy signed all four Central Bank Gold Agreements between 1999 and 2019. These were deals between European central banks to limit how much gold they sold each year. Unlike France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and others, Italy sold no gold under any of them.

Transparency and Audits

The Bank of Italy is more open about its gold than many central banks. It publishes the exact split of its gold between Rome, New York, Switzerland and London. It has also released details of the bars held in Rome, including how many there are and how they are made up.

In 2014 it published a booklet on its gold reserves. The booklet set out that the Rome holding consisted mostly of standard large bars, plus a small amount of coins. The bars came from a range of refiners and assay offices, with weights from about 4 to 20 kilograms and an average purity of around 99.6%.

How the Gold Is Checked

Each year, the external audit firm that certifies the Bank of Italy’s accounts checks the gold in the Rome vaults, together with the bank’s internal audit department. Gold held abroad is checked differently. The central banks that store it, including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, provide annual certificates confirming the holdings. The Bank of Italy says it can also verify the gold held at other central banks directly. It has not said how often it does so.

The same approach drew criticism in Germany. In 2012, Germany’s Federal Court of Auditors faulted the Bundesbank for never having physically inspected its gold abroad, which helped trigger Germany’s repatriation programme. Italy relies on the same kind of custodian certificates for more than half of its gold.

What Isn’t Published

The Bank of Italy reports its gold on its balance sheet under “gold and gold receivables,” valued at market prices at the end of each year. Gold receivables would show gold that has been lent out or swapped. In 2011 the bank said the line contained only gold, with no receivables. In 2014, however, its press office declined to say whether any of its gold was leased, swapped or pledged.

Unlike the Bundesbank, which has published a full list of its gold bars since 2015, the Bank of Italy has not released a bar-by-bar list. In 2014, senators from the Five Star Movement visited the Rome vaults and filmed the gold. They called for the reserves to be placed formally in public ownership and for more openness about the gold held abroad. The first of those demands was largely met by the 2025 budget law. No further details of the foreign-held gold have been published.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much gold does Italy have?

Italy holds 2,451.8 tonnes of gold, often rounded to 2,452 tonnes, or about 78.8 million troy ounces. It is the third-largest official gold reserve in the world, after the United States and Germany. The total has not changed since 1999.

Where is Italy’s gold stored?

Italy’s gold is held in four places. According to the Bank of Italy, 44.86% is in its vaults in Rome, 43.29% in the United States, 6.09% in Switzerland and 5.76% in the United Kingdom.

Is Italy’s gold in the US?

Yes, some of it. About 1,061.5 tonnes, or 43.29% of Italy’s gold, is held in the United States, at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The Bank of Italy has not announced any plans to repatriate it.

Who owns Italy’s gold?

Italy’s gold is held and managed by the Bank of Italy and recorded on its balance sheet. Under the 2026 budget law, passed in December 2025, the reserves are declared to belong to the Italian people. The Bank of Italy’s independence over them under EU law is unchanged.

Has Italy ever sold its gold?

Italy has not sold any gold since 1999. It signed all four Central Bank Gold Agreements but sold nothing under them. In 1976 it pledged 543 tonnes as collateral for a loan from Germany’s Bundesbank, and the gold was released once the loan was repaid.

Could Italy sell its gold to pay off its debt?

Selling Italy’s gold would make only a small dent in its public debt of around €3 trillion, since the gold is worth less than a tenth of that. EU rules also ban central banks from financing governments, which limits how the gold could be used.

How much gold does Italy have per person?

Italy’s 2,451.8 tonnes work out at about 42 grams of gold per resident, based on a population of around 58.9 million. That is slightly more per person than Germany.

From the Bank of Italy’s Vaults to Your Own

Italy’s gold has been through a lot. It was taken by occupying forces in the Second World War, rebuilt from the dollar earnings of the postwar boom, and pledged to secure a loan in the 1970s. It has also been argued over by politicians ever since. The debates around it come down to the same questions: who really owns the gold, where it is held, and whether it can be checked. Those questions matter just as much for anyone holding gold privately.

Individual investors can choose how they hold their own gold. Gold bars from LBMA-accredited refiners are the most cost-effective way to hold larger amounts. Gold coins come in smaller sizes and are widely recognised, which makes them easy to buy and sell. For a link to Italy’s monetary history, BullionStar also sells the 20 Lire gold coin. It was minted to the same standard as the French and Swiss 20-franc coins under the Latin Monetary Union, when the lira was backed by gold.

Ownership and storage can also be made clear from the start. BullionStar offers vault storage at Le Freeport in Singapore. Customers’ gold there is fully allocated and insured, and it belongs to them outright. Every bar is photographed, holdings are independently audited, and customers can visit their gold in person.