South Korea ranked 56th in terms of gold holdings, one notch higher from a year earlier, but its reserves remained relatively small compared with other nations, data showed Thursday.

Korea’s gold holdings came to 14.4 tons as of July this year, the 56th largest among 113 countries and organizations surveyed by the World Gold Council, an international body that offers key information about gold.

Korea’s gold holdings have been unchanged since the second quarter of 2009. They were worth $667.9 million, or 0.2 percent of the nation’s foreign reserves, which is relatively smaller than other nations, the data showed.

The United States holds 8,133.5 tons of gold, the largest among those surveyed. Germany came next with 3,401 tons of gold, followed by the International Monetary Fund and Italy with 2,814 tons and 2,451.8 tons, respectively.

The data comes as international gold prices have been surging on the belief that it is the safest investment asset while economic uncertainties remain high.

Each nation also has been stepping up purchases of gold since. 

(Yonhap News)