Venezuela Gold Reserves: How Many Tons Does It Have?
Venezuela holds 47.01 metric tons of gold in its international reserves, according to the Central Bank of Venezuela’s (BCV) financial statements as of June 30, 2026. The BCV valued them at $6.07 billion, at $4,016.70 an ounce. About 31 tons of that — two-thirds — sit at the Bank of England in London, frozen since 2019. In 2026 the government and the opposition have been negotiating to move them to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
How much gold does Venezuela have, and where is it?
| Metric tons | |
|---|---|
| BCV monetary gold (June 2026) | 47.01 |
| At the Bank of England (London) | about 31 |
| Elsewhere, including BCV vaults | about 16 |
The 31 tons in London are already part of the 47 — don’t add them. The BCV counts as monetary gold both what it keeps in its own vaults and what is held at qualifying institutions abroad, per Banca y Negocios’ review of the statements, cited by EVTV. Recovering the London gold wouldn’t give Venezuela more gold; it would let it use gold it already reports.
What are Venezuela’s gold reserves worth?
- December 31, 2025: $6.635 billion, at $4,389.45 an ounce (BCV).
- June 30, 2026: $6.071 billion, at $4,016.70 an ounce (BCV).
- At the October 20, 2026 price ($4,137 an ounce): about $6.25 billion for all 47 tons and about $4.12 billion for the 31 in London — our calculation, at 32,150.7 troy ounces per metric ton.
Total international reserves were $13.9 billion per the BCV, cited by Guacamaya in August 2026, but most are frozen abroad. They were nearly $30 billion in 2012 and had fallen to $6.4 billion by 2020.
The Bank of England gold
- Why it’s frozen: since the 2019 recognition crisis, the Bank of England hasn’t released it because it was unclear who legally represented the BCV.
- August 12, 2026: Jorge Rodríguez, for the government, and Dinorah Figuera, for the 2015 National Assembly, announced in a joint statement a process for “the recovery of Venezuela’s international reserve assets at the Bank of England,” per Guacamaya.
- September 2026: per the Financial Times, as reported by Azernews, the two sides were close to a deal to move the gold to the New York Fed. Delcy Rodríguez’s government would get “legal control” but couldn’t sell it right away; it could use it as loan collateral, for instance to fund recovery from the June 24 earthquake.
The gold Venezuela sent to the U.S. in 2026
In March 2026, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the U.S. had received $100 million in Venezuelan gold, per The Daily Beast. Commodities trader Trafigura signed a contract with state miner Minerven to ship it. That was mined gold, not BCV reserves. In September, The New York Times reported the gold still hadn’t been refined or sold in the U.S. because of concerns about links to criminal groups, as relayed by The Kyunghyang Shinmun.
What is not known
- Whether the London gold will reach New York, when, and on what terms.
- How much gold is in the BCV’s Caracas vaults. The BCV reports the total, not the split; the 16 tons is a subtraction.
- Whether the BCV has sold or pledged any gold in 2026 — the latest known statements are from June.
For Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy, see why oil matters to Venezuela. Today’s price of gold by karat: gold price per gram.