Each country’s central bank is usually known to hold gold reserves that basically just sit in vaults for years. However, the amount of gold each nation possesses represents, in most cases, a big part of its fortune. 

The United States, for instance, has more than 8,000 tonnes of gold.

But 2013 was tough for some countries and not every one of them managed to keep their gold reserves safe and sound. Especially because, this year, gold actually lost about 28 percent of its value, reducing the value of foreign reserves. Based on these numbers, here’s a list of the year’s biggest losers.

1. Portugal

• In 2012, 90 percent of the country’s foreign reserves were in gold.

2013: the country lost about 25 percent of the value of its foreign reserves as the gold price tumbled, the equivalent to $8 billion.

2. Greece

• Greece had 83 percent of its foreign reserves in gold.

2013: the country’s account lost 23 percent of its value.

3. United States

• The United States have 76 percent of their wealth in gold.

2013: in terms of total dollar loss, the country was the biggest loser during this year. The nation’s foreign reserve shed $150 billion of its value.

4. Venezuela

• In Venezuela, gold represented about 75 percent of the country’s foreign reserve in late 2012.

2013: the same amount of gold that was worth $22 billion at the end of last year, is today worth $15 billion.

5. Germany

• In 2012, Germany’s gold represented 73.5 percent of the country’s wealth.

2013: the European nation currently has almost 3,400 tonnes of gold in its foreign reserve account, but the metal price drop has caused its value to decrease $62 billion loss, now being worth $144 billion.

Content from Mining.com via World Gold Council | All images from Google Maps

Lost 23 percent of its gold’s value

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