China vs Japan: Total reserves

China
3.75 trillion includes gold, current US$
in 2025
Japan
1.37 trillion includes gold, current US$
in 2025
China rank
1st
Japan rank
3rd

Total reserves over time

  • China
  • Japan
01.0T2.0T3.0T4.0T196019922025

How they compare

China currently reports 3.75 trillion includes gold, current US$ against 1.37 trillion includes gold, current US$ in Japan, a difference of 2.38 trillion includes gold, current US$.

That makes China's figure about 2.7 times Japan's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 49 shared years of data; in 1977 it was Japan ahead.

Globally, China ranks 1st and Japan ranks 3rd of 181 countries.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Total reserves (includes gold, current US$)
Unit
includes gold, current US$
Source
International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
182 places, 9,490 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed

Reserve assets are external assets, including monetary gold, that are readily available to and controlled by monetary authorities for meeting balance of payments financing needs, for intervention in exchange markets to affect the currency exchange rate, and for other related purposes (such as maintaining confidence in the currency and the economy, and serving as a basis for foreign borrowing). Reserve assets must be denominated and settled in foreign currency. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.