The Central Bank of Russia has reported a significant decline in its gold reserves, which have fallen to the lowest level since January 2020. As of August 1, 2026, the bank's gold holdings amounted to 73.2 million troy ounces, marking a decrease of 1.6 million ounces since the beginning of the year.

According to data from TASS, the value of these gold reserves has also dropped by $33.7 billion over the past seven months. Earlier this year, on March 1, 2026, the total value of Russia's gold reserves was approximately $299 billion. The decline in reserves has been ongoing since the start of the year, with the country holding 74.8 million troy ounces as of January 1. This figure decreased by 300,000 ounces in February and by another 200,000 ounces in March. By April 1, the reserves had further contracted to 74.1 million ounces, followed by a reduction of 500,000 ounces in May and 200,000 ounces in June, bringing the total down to 73.4 million ounces at the beginning of July.

Once among the world's strongest gold-buying central banks, the Russian Central Bank halted its gold purchases at the beginning of 2020. Two years later, it announced plans to resume gold buying, but not at the previous scale. Since last year, the volume of gold held has begun to decline as the Russian Ministry of Finance sold gold and foreign currency from the National Wealth Fund to cover budget deficits caused by weakened energy revenues. This process was carried out through a 'mirror mechanism', where the Central Bank of Russia conducted corresponding transactions in the domestic market to neutralize the impact of government transactions on the ruble and the financial system, as reported by Bloomberg.

The continued contraction of gold reserves indicates that Russia's reserve resources are being utilized more actively to support public finances, amid pressure on energy revenues and the need for additional resources to balance the budget.