Improving the Analytical Usefulness of the IMF’s COFER Data

Technical Notes and Manuals, November 26, 2025

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Improving the Analytical Usefulness of the IMF’s COFER Data

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Bibliographic details

• Authors: Glen Kwende, Erin Nephew
• Published: November 26, 2025
• Series: Technical Notes and Manuals
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798229004855.005

Summary

• Presents a methodological change to the International Monetary Fund’s Currency Composition of Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER) dataset.
• IMF staff construct a new COFER timeseries that allocates 100 percent of global foreign exchange reserves across currencies, eliminating the "unallocated" portion of the dataset.
• The change improves the analytical usefulness of the COFER dataset by providing a more complete and consistent time series and strengthens the confidentiality of individual country data.
• Overall trends in currency composition remain broadly unchanged, but the allocation of previously unallocated reserves leads to modest adjustments in currency shares.
• Disclaimer: This Technical Guidance Note should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF. The views expressed in this Note are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Methodological approach

• Imputation techniques used:
  • Stratified mean imputation.
  • Carry-forward imputation.
• Objective of the methodology:
  • Allocate 100 percent of global foreign exchange reserves across currencies.
  • Eliminate the "unallocated" portion of the COFER dataset.
  • Provide a more complete and consistent time series while preserving confidentiality of individual country data.

Key findings and implications

• Data coverage:
  • The revised timeseries allocates 100 percent of global foreign exchange reserves across currencies.
• Analytical impact:
  • Improves the analytical usefulness of COFER by removing unallocated reserves and producing a consistent timeseries.
  • Strengthens confidentiality of individual country data through imputation-based allocation.
• Effects on reported currency shares:
  • Overall trends in currency composition remain broadly unchanged.
  • Allocation of previously unallocated reserves produces modest adjustments in currency shares.

Content in this bundle

• Improving the Analytical Usefulness of the IMF’s COFER Data; November 2025; TNM/2025/14
  • Improving the Analytical Usefulness of the IMF’s COFER Data; November 2025; TNM/2025/14 (Markdown version)
  • Improving the Analytical Usefulness of the IMF’s COFER Data; November 2025; TNM/2025/14 (PDF)