UAE Central Bank gold reserves hit record AED 43 billion, up 75% in a year

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The Central Bank of the UAE has reported a record AED 43.051 billion in gold reserves at the end of January 2026, a 13.6% monthly increase and a staggering 75% rise compared to January 2025, signalling strong financial resilience.

ABU DHABI: When the world gets uncertain, gold gets more valuable. And the UAE Central Bank has been paying close attention.

The Central Bank of the UAE has reported that its gold reserves hit a new record high of AED 43.051 billion at the end of January 2026, up 13.6 per cent from AED 37.902 billion at the end of December 2025. That is an increase of AED 5.149 billion in a single month, and a figure that speaks loudly about the UAE’s financial strategy in a period of heightened global and regional uncertainty.

Zoom out to the annual picture and the numbers become even more striking. Gold reserves have surged by more than 75 per cent over the past year, rising by approximately AED 18.48 billion compared to AED 24.571 billion at the end of January 2025. In just twelve months, the UAE Central Bank has essentially doubled its gold holdings, a deliberate and significant move to strengthen the country’s financial foundations at a time when geopolitical turbulence is testing economies around the world.

The monthly statistical bulletin also offered a broader snapshot of the UAE’s banking sector. Demand deposits reached AED 1.255 trillion at the end of January, while savings deposits stood at AED 413.568 billion, up from AED 400.51 billion at the end of December 2025. Time deposits came in at approximately AED 1.186 trillion, a slight increase from the previous month.

Taken together, the figures paint a picture of a financial system that is not just weathering the current storm but actively building its defences against whatever comes next. Gold has long been the world’s preferred store of value in times of crisis, and the UAE’s record reserves are a quiet but powerful signal that the country is prepared for the long game.

In uncertain times, there is comfort in knowing your central bank is holding more gold than ever before.

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