The US dollar still dominates global currency reserves
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CHART 1 • The US dollar still dominates global currency reserves
Predictions of the dollar’s decline have become a recurring genre. Reserve data keep making the more frustrating point: the dollar can lose some share and still remain the centre of the system.
Visual Capitalist’s IMF COFER chart puts the US dollar at 56.8% of global foreign-exchange reserves at the end of 2025, far ahead of the euro at about 20.2%. The renminbi remains tiny by comparison.
That dominance is not a compliment to US politics. It is a reflection of market depth, liquidity, legal structure and the shortage of credible substitutes. The dollar’s privilege can erode slowly without disappearing quickly.
Source: Visual Capitalist
The reserve-currency chart cuts against easy narratives about decline. Power can shift slowly, unevenly and with long periods where the old centre remains hard to replace.
Paid subscribers get access to the other four charts: nuclear warhead stockpiles, the countries hosting the most migrants, the biggest wheat producers and global gold production. Together, they show how power still rests on reserves, weapons, people, food and hard assets.
