Quarterly share of U.S. dollar in global reserves worldwide 1999-2026

Share of currencies held in global foreign exchange reserves from the first quarter of 1999 to the first quarter of 2026

The US dollar share of global foreign exchange reserves fell from about 71 percent in 1999 to about 57 percent by 2026, a slow but steady decline over more than two decades. Despite the fall, the dollar remains dominant, holding more than half of all reserves. The currency composition of the world foreign exchange reserves is one of the most closely watched indicators in international finance, because it reveals which currencies the world central banks trust most, and the slow decline of the dollar share has become a lightning rod in debates about the future of American financial power. Since the euro launched in 1999, the dollar has faced its first serious potential rival in decades, yet more than a quarter of a century later it remains firmly in command, its share eroded but its dominance intact, a resilience that has confounded repeated predictions of decline.

The euro is a distant second at about 20 percent, while the yen, pound and renminbi share the rest. The series extends our currency reserves of selected countries overview and our development of reserves worldwide coverage.

The whole reserve mix, over time: the dollar (gold) slowly shrank from 71 to 57 percent of reserves, the euro (blue) held near 20 percent, and smaller currencies (grey) expanded, as central banks diversified between 1999 and 2026.

The gradual erosion of the dollar share reflects slow diversification by central banks rather than any collapse in confidence, themes our debt deals by currency and central banks overviews explore.

A note on the data. The figures show the share of the dollar and other currencies in global allocated reserves, from the first quarter of 1999 to the first quarter of 2026, based on IMF COFER data, in percent. Some series are interpolated to quarterly for illustration. The COFER data cover only allocated reserves, those for which the reporting central bank identifies the currency, and since 2025 the IMF has restructured the series to cover the full total, giving a more complete picture of the global currency composition than before. All shares are of allocated reserves, and because the dollar figures are among the most reliably reported, the broad trend of a slow decline in the dollar share is well established even if the precise quarterly figures carry some uncertainty.

Reserve Currency Shares, Year by Year

The table shows the share of the main reserve currencies at key points from 1999 to 2026. It traces the long decline of the dollar, the rise and retreat of the euro, and the small but growing role of newer currencies. Reading down the table shows the slow reshuffling of the reserve currencies, with the dollar giving up about fourteen points over the period, the euro largely flat, and a scattering of smaller currencies quietly gaining ground at the dollar expense. Because the shares are of allocated reserves and reporting has changed over time, the precise figures should be read as close approximations, but the broad story, a dollar slowly declining and a euro holding steady, is robust and well documented.

How Have Reserve Currency Shares Changed?

The currency mix has shifted gradually. The dollar share fell from 71 to 57 percent between 1999 and 2026, the euro rose then fell back to about 20 percent, the yen and pound held steady near 5 percent each, and the renminbi rose from nothing to about 2 percent. The gradual nature of the shift is itself one of the most important lessons of the data, since central banks manage trillions of dollars and cannot move quickly without disrupting the very markets they depend on, so change in the reserve system unfolds over decades rather than years. The dollar fall from 71 to 57 percent, spread over twenty-seven years, works out at only about half a percentage point a year, a pace so gradual that in any single year the change is almost imperceptible, yet which compounds into a significant shift over a generation.

The changes have been slow and steady rather than sudden, reflecting the caution of central banks, which move their vast reserves only gradually, a pattern our ten-year yields by country coverage frames.

The dollar leads, others trail: the dollar share fell from 71 to 57 percent, the euro rose then fell back to 20 percent, and the yen, pound and renminbi held small shares.

The most striking feature is how little the basic hierarchy has changed, with the dollar still dominant, the euro a clear second, and every other currency a minor player, even after more than two decades of gradual diversification. The durability of the hierarchy, with the same currencies in the same order across more than two decades, is a testament to the powerful inertia of the reserve system, in which the depth and safety of existing markets keep drawing central banks back to the established currencies.

Which Currencies Are Reserves Held In Today?

In 2026 the US dollar makes up about 57 percent of allocated reserves, the euro 20 percent, the yen and pound about 5 percent each, and the Canadian dollar, renminbi and Australian dollar between 2 and 3 percent each, with smaller currencies making up the rest. The 2026 snapshot captures a reserve system that is more diversified than at any point in the euro era, yet still overwhelmingly anchored by the dollar and the euro, which between them account for the bulk of the reserves held by nearly every central bank in the world. At about 57 percent, the dollar in 2026 still holds a larger share of reserves than all other currencies combined, a dominance that reflects the unmatched depth and liquidity of the US Treasury market and the continued willingness of the world to hold American debt.

The dollar and euro together still account for more than three-quarters of all reserves, a duopoly that has proved remarkably durable despite the rise of new economic powers, a concentration our leading financial centres coverage frames.

The dollar still dominates: in 2026 the dollar makes up about 57 percent of reserves, the euro 20 percent, and the yen, pound, Canadian dollar, renminbi and others the rest.

The growing category of smaller currencies, including the Canadian and Australian dollars, reflects the main channel of diversification, as central banks spread their reserves more widely to reduce risk rather than shifting decisively to any single rival. The steady growth of the non-traditional currencies, while individually small, collectively represents the most genuine form of diversification in the reserve system, as central banks spread their holdings more thinly to reduce their dependence on any single issuer. Taken together, the 2026 composition paints a picture of a reserve system still built around the dollar and euro, with a slowly widening fringe of smaller currencies and no sign of any single challenger emerging to reshape the hierarchy.

The Peaks and Troughs of the Dollar

The dollar share peaked at about 72.7 percent in 2001, fell to around 62 percent by 2009, rebounded to nearly 66 percent in 2015, and then declined steadily to about 57 percent by 2026, its lowest in the euro era. The peaks and troughs of the dollar share track the great events of the past quarter-century, from the confidence of the early 2000s through the financial crisis and the eurozone crisis to the geopolitical ruptures of the 2020s, each leaving its mark on how central banks allocate their reserves. The dollar 2001 peak of about 72.7 percent came at the height of American economic confidence, before the euro had fully established itself, and the subsequent decline tracked the gradual maturing of the euro and the rise of new economic powers.

The 2015 rebound is often forgotten, but it shows that the dollar decline has not been a straight line, with the currency regaining ground for several years before resuming its slide, a pattern our federal funds rate coverage links to US monetary policy.

Peak, dip, rebound, decline: the dollar share peaked near 72.7 percent in 2001, fell to 62 percent by 2009, rebounded to nearly 66 percent in 2015, and slid to 57 percent by 2026.

The overall trajectory, from 72.7 percent at the peak to 57 percent today, represents a fall of about 16 percentage points spread over a quarter-century, gradual enough to pose no immediate threat to the dollar dominance but steady enough to be significant. The gradual pace of the decline, averaging little more than half a percentage point a year, is precisely why it has taken so long for the dollar share to fall meaningfully, and why predictions of a sudden collapse in its dominance have repeatedly proved wrong. Looking ahead, whether the dollar share continues to drift lower or stabilises near current levels will depend on the relative growth of economies, the openness of rival markets, and the course of geopolitics over the coming decades.

Which Currencies Gained and Lost

Between 1999 and 2026 the dollar share fell about 14 points, the biggest single change. The euro rose about 2 points, the pound about 2, and the renminbi about 2 from a base of zero, while the smaller other currencies gained the most, about 8 points between them. Breaking down the changes currency by currency reveals the true nature of the shift away from the dollar, which has flowed not to a single challenger but into a broad scattering of smaller currencies, a pattern that tells against any simple narrative of one currency rising to replace another. The roughly fourteen-point fall in the dollar share is by far the largest single move in the data, dwarfing the modest gains of the euro and pound, and it represents the slow redistribution of reserves that has defined the currency composition since 1999.

The pattern shows that the dollar lost ground broadly rather than to any single rival, with the gains spread across a range of smaller currencies, a diversification our short-term interest rates worldwide coverage frames.

The dollar cedes ground: from 1999 to 2026 the dollar share fell about 14 points, while the euro, pound and renminbi each gained about 2, and smaller currencies gained the most.

That the euro gained only about 2 points over the whole period, despite being the obvious alternative, underlines how hard it has been for any currency to make serious inroads into the dollar dominance of the reserve system. The failure of the euro to capitalise on the dollar decline is one of the great puzzles of the reserve system, explained partly by the eurozone own crises and partly by the absence of a single, deep, unified euro-area bond market to rival the US Treasury market.

Currency Shares, 1999 vs 2026

Comparing 1999 with 2026 shows the dollar falling from 71 to 57 percent, the euro rising from 18 to 20 percent, the pound from under 3 to about 5 percent, the yen slipping slightly, and the renminbi rising from nothing to about 2 percent. The before-and-after comparison over more than a quarter-century is the clearest way to see the underlying direction of travel, stripping away the quarter-to-quarter noise to reveal a dollar that has slowly ceded ground while remaining, by a wide margin, the anchor of the system.

The before-and-after picture captures the slow reshuffling of the currency mix, with the dollar ceding ground broadly and the euro failing to capitalise, a shift our global stock markets by country coverage sets in context.

Broad diversification: from 1999 to 2026 the dollar fell from 71 to 57 percent, the euro rose from 18 to 20, the pound from under 3 to about 5, and the renminbi from zero to 2.

The changes, though real, have been gradual, leaving the basic structure of the reserve system intact, with the dollar dominant, the euro second, and every other currency a minor player across the whole period. The persistence of the basic structure over such a long period suggests that the reserve system changes only at the margins, with the core dominance of the dollar and euro proving resistant to the economic and geopolitical upheavals of the past quarter-century.

The Rise and Stall of the Renminbi

The Chinese renminbi entered the reserve rankings in 2016, when the IMF added it to its basket. Its share rose to about 2.8 percent by 2022, but has since slipped back to around 2 percent, well below what China economic weight might suggest. The story of the renminbi is a cautionary tale about the difference between economic size and monetary influence, since the currency of the world second-largest economy remains a minor player in reserves, held back by the very capital controls that Beijing has been reluctant to lift. The renminbi climbed from a share of exactly zero before 2016 to a peak of about 2.8 percent in 2022, but has since slipped back toward 2 percent, a trajectory that has disappointed those who expected it to challenge the established currencies more forcefully.

The stalling of the renminbi rise reflects capital controls and the limited openness of Chinese financial markets, which have deterred reserve managers, a caution our developed and emerging share price index coverage frames.

Rise and stall: the renminbi entered reserves in 2016 and rose to about 2.8 percent by 2022, but has since slipped back to around 2 percent, held back by capital controls.

The renminbi experience shows the limits of financial ambition without financial openness, since reserve managers have proved unwilling to hold large amounts of a currency they cannot freely move in and out of, however large the economy behind it. The contrast between China vast economic footprint and the tiny reserve role of its currency is one of the sharpest anomalies in the global financial system, and it shows that reserve status depends on trust and openness as much as on raw economic weight. Whether the renminbi ever fulfils its potential as a reserve currency will depend above all on whether China is willing to open its capital account and deepen its financial markets, steps it has so far been reluctant to take.

The Dollar Across Four Eras

The dollar share has declined across four eras. It averaged about 68 percent in the early euro years of 1999 to 2007, 63 percent through the crisis years of 2008 to 2014, 63 percent in the rebound of 2015 to 2019, and 58 percent in the diversification era since 2020. Dividing the history into distinct eras helps make sense of the long decline, since each period had its own drivers, from the maturing of the euro to the financial crisis to the wave of diversification and geopolitical caution that has defined the years since 2020. The early euro era of 1999 to 2007 saw the dollar share hold above two-thirds, before the financial crisis and the long diversification that followed gradually pulled it down toward the 57 percent of today, a decline of about ten points across the four eras.

Each era reflected the prevailing conditions, from the confidence of the early 2000s to the diversification of the 2020s, driven partly by geopolitics and the freezing of Russian reserves, a shift our global financial markets coverage frames.

Falling across the decades: the dollar share averaged about 68 percent in 1999 to 2007, 63 percent through 2008 to 2019, and 58 percent in the diversification era since 2020.

The steady decline across the eras, interrupted only by the 2015 rebound, shows a gradual but persistent move away from the dollar, even as it remains by far the most important reserve currency in the world. The acceleration of diversification since 2020, driven in part by the freezing of Russian reserves after 2022, has added a geopolitical dimension to what was previously a mostly financial calculation, as central banks weigh the risk that their reserves could be immobilised.

Is the Dollar Really Declining?

The falling dollar share does not mean central banks hold fewer dollars. As total reserves grew from about 2 trillion dollars in 2000 to 13 trillion by 2026, the value of dollar reserves rose even as its share fell, from about 1.4 to 7.5 trillion dollars. The distinction between the dollar share and the dollar value of reserves is perhaps the single most misunderstood aspect of the whole debate, and grasping it is essential to understanding why the falling share does not mean central banks are abandoning the dollar. Between 2000 and 2026 the dollar value of reserves more than quintupled, from about 1.4 to 7.5 trillion dollars, even as the dollar share of the total was falling, a paradox that valuation effects and the growth of other holdings together explain.

This distinction is crucial, because much of the headline decline in the dollar share reflects exchange-rate valuation effects and the growth of other holdings rather than active selling of dollars, a subtlety our financial markets in the US coverage frames.

Share down, value up: as total reserves grew from 2 to 13 trillion dollars, the value of dollar reserves rose from 1.4 to 7.5 trillion even as the dollar share fell.

The IMF own analysis stresses that the dollar remains dominant and that reports of its demise are premature, since no rival currency offers the same depth, liquidity and safety as the US Treasury market that underpins dollar reserves. This is why the IMF and most serious analysts caution against reading too much into the falling dollar share, since the currency remains dominant by every measure that matters, and the alternatives remain too shallow, too small or too restricted to take its place.

The Shifting Reserve Mix

The reserve mix has shifted visibly over the period. In 1999 the dollar made up 71 percent and other currencies just 5 percent, while by 2026 the dollar had fallen to 57 percent and other currencies had grown to about 17 percent of the total. The stacked view of the reserve mix over time makes the diversification visible at a glance, showing how the slice of reserves held in currencies beyond the dollar and euro has steadily widened, even as those two currencies continue to dominate the whole. In 1999 the reserve mix was overwhelmingly dominated by the dollar, with barely a twentieth held in currencies outside the big three, whereas by 2026 that non-traditional slice had grown to roughly a sixth, a clear if gradual widening of the currency base.

The growth of the other-currency slice is the clearest sign of genuine diversification, representing a real spread of reserves into a wider range of currencies and away from the traditional big three, a trend our biggest companies by market value coverage frames.

More room for others: in 1999 currencies outside the big three held just 5 percent of reserves; by 2026 that slice had grown to about 17 percent.

The stacked picture shows that while the dollar and euro still dominate, the room they leave for other currencies has roughly tripled since 1999, a slow but meaningful reshaping of the reserve system. The roughly threefold growth in the share of reserves held outside the big three currencies is the single clearest piece of evidence that diversification is real, even if it has so far chipped away at the dollar only slowly and from the edges.

Reserve Currencies in Numbers

A few numbers capture the picture. The dollar share of reserves fell from about 71 percent in 1999 to 57 percent in 2026, the euro holds about 20 percent, the renminbi about 2 percent, and the dollar and euro together still make up more than three-quarters of the total. Together these figures make the currency composition of reserves a revealing barometer of the shifting balance of financial power, charting a dollar that is slowly diminishing in relative terms yet remains without a serious rival for its role at the centre of the system.

The figures matter because the currency composition of reserves is one of the clearest measures of financial power in the world, a role our largest asset managers coverage sets in context.

Together these figures show a reserve system still dominated by the dollar, slowly diversifying into other currencies, but with no rival anywhere close to challenging the dollar for the top spot.

The Dollar in Global Reserves: The Big Picture

Taken together, the currency composition of global reserves from 1999 to 2026 traces the slow erosion of the dollar dominance and the gradual diversification of central bank holdings, a story our gold as an investment coverage sets against the parallel rise of gold.

Whether the dollar share keeps falling or stabilises will shape the global monetary system for decades, but the dollar remains the anchor of the reserve system, alongside the assets in our crypto market and money market fund overviews.

Frequently Asked Questions: Dollar Share of Reserves