Korea's global ranking for foreign exchange reserves fell to 12th, slipping out of the top 10 for the first time since the 2000s.
According to the Bank of Korea (BOK) on the 3rd, Korea's global ranking for foreign exchange reserves fell two spots from 10th at the end of January this year to 12th at the end of February. This is the first time it has fallen out of the top 10 since the 2000s, when the Bank of Korea (BOK) began compiling country-by-country statistics.
Italy and France rose to 8th and 9th, respectively, entering the top 10 ahead of Korea. These countries benefited substantially from rising gold prices. The two countries rank third and fourth in global gold holdings, and they value gold at market prices when calculating foreign exchange reserves. By contrast, Korea uses the purchase price for gold, so the increase in gold prices does not translate into higher foreign exchange reserves.
By size of foreign exchange reserves, China had the most at $3,427.8 billion, followed by Japan ($1,410.7 billion), Switzerland ($1,113.5 billion), Russia ($809.3 billion), India ($728.5 billion), Germany ($663.3 billion), Taiwan ($605.5 billion), Italy ($501.2 billion), France ($495.0 billion), Saudi Arabia ($476.3 billion), Hong Kong ($439.3 billion), and Korea ($427.6 billion).
Meanwhile, as of the end of last month, Korea's foreign exchange reserves stood at $423.66 billion, down $3.97 billion from February. Foreign exchange reserves fell in December last year and January this year, then turned to an increase in February, but declined again after one month.
A Bank of Korea (BOK) official said, "As the dollar-converted value of foreign-currency assets denominated in the yen, the euro, and other currencies decreased, the dollar holdings also fell due to market stabilization measures such as foreign exchange swaps with the National Pension Service." A foreign exchange swap refers to the National Pension Service securing dollars from foreign exchange reserves for overseas asset purchases and later repaying in dollars.