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Are Central Banks Moving Out of Dollar Assets?

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Abstract

The dollar’s share of global official foreign exchange reserves fell from 64 percent in 2015 to 56 percent in 2025. This downward trajectory is sometimes read as evidence that the dollar’s role in international financial markets is eroding. However, aggregate statistics obscure the composition of changes occurring at the country level. In this post, we show that the aggregate decline is not a systematic global shift away from dollar assets. Rather, the aggregate decline reflects the actions of a handful of large reserve holders, changing either their currency preferences or the size of their reserve portfolio. From the perspective of the cross section of countries holding dollar assets, the dollar’s status in official portfolios is largely intact.

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  • Linda S. Goldberg & Oliver Zain Hannaoui & Sneha Parthasarathy, 2026. "Are Central Banks Moving Out of Dollar Assets?," Liberty Street Economics 20260902, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fednls:103729
    DOI: 10.59576/lse.20260902
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    JEL classification:

    • F3 - International Economics - - International Finance
    • F5 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy

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