2024 – The current value of the Riksbank's gold

Sweden’s gold is currently estimated to be worth more than 100 billion Swedish kronor! But where is this wealth stored, and how has the value of the gold changed over time? Tavex has investigated this in detail.

A closer look at Sweden’s gold

The Riksbank, which boasts the title of “the world’s oldest central bank,” has an impressive gold reserve of 125.7 tons. In an effort to be more transparent, the Riksbank did not disclose information about where the gold is stored until 2013.

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Why the gold is spread across several countries

To reduce security risks, the gold has been placed in various countries. This strategic decision reduces the risks that would arise if all the gold were stored in one place.

Here’s how Sweden’s gold is distributed:

• United Kingdom, Bank of England: 62.2 tons
• Canada, Bank of Canada: 33.2 tons
• USA, Federal Reserve Bank of New York: 13.1 tons
• Switzerland, Swiss National Bank: 2.0 tons
• Sweden, in the Riksbank’s own depot: 15.2 tons.

This geographical distribution helps to protect Sweden’s national assets and ensure the stability of the gold reserve. The exact location of the Swedish depot is kept secret for security reasons.

The Riksbank’s assets and the significance of gold

Since 2009, the amount of gold in the Riksbank’s possession has remained unchanged. Nevertheless, gold now constitutes a larger proportion of the Riksbank’s total assets. How can this be explained?

Well, of the Riksbank’s financial assets, as of December 31, 2023, the gold accounted for 84 billion of the total assets of 1,256 billion kronor, which corresponds to 6.69 percent. This proportion has increased further during 2024, partly due to the rise in gold prices.

Sweden’s gold is today worth over 100 billion kronor!

A calculation based on Tavex’s gold price chart shows that the value of the Riksbank’s gold has risen to over 100 billion kronor in 2024 – currently exactly 106 billion kronor, with a gold price of 844 SEK/gram.

If the Riksbank’s other assets are unchanged compared to December 2023, the gold now constitutes about 8.29% of the Riksbank’s total assets.

“From a portfolio theory perspective,

there is no major reason

for the gold reserve to be as large as

10 percent of the total

Reserve.”

At the beginning of the 2000s, an employee at the Riksbank’s market operations department expressed doubts about the necessity of maintaining a gold reserve that constituted as much as 10 percent of the bank’s total assets.

Now, 23 years later, we see that the proportion of gold is once again approaching this level of 10 percent, which may raise some thoughts and discussions.

Source: Riksbanken

History of Sweden’s gold reserve

At the beginning of the 2000s, Sweden’s gold reserve was 185.4 tons. This number was methodically reduced until the year 2009. 

During the financial crisis of 2008-2009, Sweden sold about 23 tons of gold, which in hindsight may have been a poor deal considering how much the price of gold has increased since then.

Source: Gold.org

The value of the gold the Riksbank sold has quintupled

In 2004, the Riksbank decided to sell a third of its gold. From 2004 to 2009, they sold 60 tons of gold and received approximately 10.7 billion kronor for it. They then invested this money in foreign currency securities.

Today, the value of the 60 tons of gold that was sold is around 50.6 billion kronor.

Sweden’s gold reserve in Boden

Until 1982, Sweden’s gold reserve was stored in the Degerbergsfortet in Boden, under strict secrecy. A secret relocation of the gold took place one night in 1982. Rumors say that up to a quarter of Sweden’s gold at the time, about 130 tons, was stored here. 

Similar secret facilities also existed in Falun and Jönköping, designed to withstand extreme attacks, including nuclear weapons.

What do you think about the Riksbank’s future gold strategy? Will they buy more gold or perhaps sell some? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Other sources:

• Riksbanken
• Glomdhistoria
• DI