Gold averaged $3,441.50 an ounce in 2025, 44.1% more than in 2024, and $4,552 over the first nine months of 2026. The table at the end of this page gives every year since 1960 with its average, its change on the year before, and its lowest and highest monthly average.
Each year's figure is the average of its twelve monthly averages from the World Bank's series, so it describes the year as a whole rather than any one day. The runs and long falls behind these numbers are in gold price history since 1960.
Years that rose and years that fell
We count from 1971. Until the US closed its gold window in August 1971, US dollars were convertible to gold at a fixed $35 an ounce (Federal Reserve History), and the yearly averages from 1960 to 1967 barely move.
No year from 1971 to 2025 was unchanged on the year before. The five largest rises in the annual average were:
- 1980: +98.2%, to $607.83
- 1973: +67.3%, to $97.33
- 1974: +63.6%, to $159.25
- 1979: +58.8%, to $306.75
- 2025: +44.1%, to $3,441.50
And the five largest falls:
- 1981: -24.4%, to $459.75
- 1976: -22.4%, to $124.83
- 1982: -18.3%, to $375.75
- 2013: -15.4%, to $1,411.67
- 1984: -14.7%, to $360.50
Four of the five rises came between 1973 and 1980, and four of the five falls between 1976 and 1984. 2025 and 2013 are the only years after 1984 in either list.
The last 20 years
From 2006 to 2025, 17 of the 20 years rose. The three falls came in a row, 2013 to 2015, after the September 2011 monthly average of $1,772. Then every year from 2016 to 2025 rose, ten in a row, some only just: the 2022 average was 0.1% above 2021's. The one longer run since 1971 is the eleven years from 2002 to 2012.
The same prices in August 2026 dollars are in gold adjusted for inflation, and the changes from one month to the next in is there a best month for gold. Gold's moves inside the day in 2026, from one-minute prices, are on the XAU/USD market page and in gold's average daily range. Our closed gold signals are on the results page.
How the table is worked out
Prices are in US dollars per troy ounce. The average is the mean of the year's monthly averages, and the change compares it with the previous year's average. The lowest and highest columns are the year's lowest and highest monthly averages. They are averages of whole months, so they are not the lowest and highest prices traded that year.
1960 is the first year of the series, so it has no change figure. 2026 has nine months, January to September, so its average is partial and it has no change figure either.
Gold's average price by year, 1960 to 2026
Newest first, in US dollars per troy ounce. On a phone, the table scrolls sideways.
| Year | Average | Change | Lowest month | Highest month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026, January to September | 4,552.00 | n/a | 4,073.00 | 5,020.00 |
| 2025 | 3,441.50 | +44.1% | 2,710.00 | 4,309.00 |
| 2024 | 2,387.58 | +22.9% | 2,023.00 | 2,690.00 |
| 2023 | 1,942.75 | +7.9% | 1,855.00 | 2,026.00 |
| 2022 | 1,800.75 | +0.1% | 1,664.00 | 1,948.00 |
| 2021 | 1,799.58 | +1.7% | 1,718.00 | 1,867.00 |
| 2020 | 1,770.25 | +27.1% | 1,561.00 | 1,969.00 |
| 2019 | 1,392.58 | +9.7% | 1,284.00 | 1,511.00 |
| 2018 | 1,269.25 | +0.9% | 1,198.00 | 1,335.00 |
| 2017 | 1,257.50 | +0.7% | 1,192.00 | 1,314.00 |
| 2016 | 1,249.00 | +7.6% | 1,098.00 | 1,340.00 |
| 2015 | 1,160.75 | -8.3% | 1,076.00 | 1,251.00 |
| 2014 | 1,265.58 | -10.3% | 1,175.00 | 1,336.00 |
| 2013 | 1,411.67 | -15.4% | 1,222.00 | 1,672.00 |
| 2012 | 1,669.58 | +6.4% | 1,589.00 | 1,747.00 |
| 2011 | 1,569.17 | +28.1% | 1,360.00 | 1,772.00 |
| 2010 | 1,224.67 | +25.9% | 1,095.00 | 1,391.00 |
| 2009 | 973.00 | +11.6% | 859.00 | 1,135.00 |
| 2008 | 871.75 | +25.1% | 761.00 | 968.00 |
| 2007 | 696.67 | +15.3% | 631.00 | 806.00 |
| 2006 | 604.42 | +35.9% | 550.00 | 675.00 |
| 2005 | 444.83 | +8.7% | 422.00 | 510.00 |
| 2004 | 409.17 | +12.5% | 384.00 | 442.00 |
| 2003 | 363.58 | +17.3% | 328.00 | 407.00 |
| 2002 | 310.00 | +14.5% | 282.00 | 332.00 |
| 2001 | 270.83 | -2.9% | 260.00 | 283.00 |
| 2000 | 279.04 | +0.1% | 266.00 | 300.00 |
| 1999 | 278.75 | -5.2% | 256.00 | 311.00 |
| 1998 | 294.08 | -11.2% | 284.00 | 308.00 |
| 1997 | 331.17 | -14.6% | 289.00 | 355.00 |
| 1996 | 387.58 | +0.9% | 369.00 | 405.00 |
| 1995 | 384.17 | +0.1% | 377.00 | 391.00 |
| 1994 | 383.92 | +6.7% | 377.00 | 392.00 |
| 1993 | 359.67 | +4.7% | 329.00 | 392.00 |
| 1992 | 343.67 | -5.1% | 335.00 | 354.00 |
| 1991 | 362.25 | -5.5% | 349.00 | 384.00 |
| 1990 | 383.50 | +0.5% | 352.00 | 417.00 |
| 1989 | 381.45 | -12.7% | 362.00 | 409.39 |
| 1988 | 437.08 | -2.1% | 407.00 | 477.00 |
| 1987 | 446.42 | +21.4% | 401.00 | 486.00 |
| 1986 | 367.75 | +15.6% | 339.00 | 424.00 |
| 1985 | 318.00 | -11.8% | 299.00 | 330.00 |
| 1984 | 360.50 | -14.7% | 320.00 | 394.00 |
| 1983 | 422.58 | +12.5% | 382.00 | 491.00 |
| 1982 | 375.75 | -18.3% | 315.00 | 445.00 |
| 1981 | 459.75 | -24.4% | 409.00 | 557.00 |
| 1980 | 607.83 | +98.2% | 514.00 | 675.00 |
| 1979 | 306.75 | +58.8% | 227.00 | 455.00 |
| 1978 | 193.17 | +30.8% | 173.00 | 227.00 |
| 1977 | 147.67 | +18.3% | 132.00 | 162.00 |
| 1976 | 124.83 | -22.4% | 110.00 | 134.00 |
| 1975 | 160.92 | +1.0% | 139.00 | 180.00 |
| 1974 | 159.25 | +63.6% | 129.00 | 184.00 |
| 1973 | 97.33 | +67.3% | 65.00 | 120.00 |
| 1972 | 58.17 | +42.2% | 46.00 | 67.00 |
| 1971 | 40.92 | +14.2% | 38.00 | 43.00 |
| 1970 | 35.83 | -12.4% | 35.00 | 38.00 |
| 1969 | 40.92 | +5.1% | 35.00 | 43.00 |
| 1968 | 38.92 | +11.2% | 36.00 | 41.00 |
| 1967 | 35.00 | 0.0% | 35.00 | 35.00 |
| 1966 | 35.00 | 0.0% | 35.00 | 35.00 |
| 1965 | 35.00 | 0.0% | 35.00 | 35.00 |
| 1964 | 35.01 | 0.0% | 35.00 | 35.10 |
| 1963 | 35.00 | -0.2% | 35.00 | 35.00 |
| 1962 | 35.06 | +0.1% | 35.00 | 35.23 |
| 1961 | 35.02 | -0.5% | 35.00 | 35.25 |
| 1960 | 35.18 | n/a | 35.00 | 35.27 |
Where the numbers come from
Gold prices are the World Bank's monthly averages from its Commodity Markets "Pink Sheet", in US dollars per troy ounce, January 1960 to September 2026, taken from datasets/gold-prices on GitHub, published under the Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL). We worked out each year's average, change and lowest and highest month from that monthly series. This page has no inflation adjustment; the real prices on gold adjusted for inflation use the US consumer price index (CPI-U) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, via datasets/cpi-us. We read both on 24 October 2026.
Every closed signal is on the record
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