Gold Price History Since 1971, Before and After Inflation
As of October 9, 2026, the monthly average price of gold stood at $4,319 an ounce in September 2026. In 1971 it averaged $41, which is $338 in the dollars of September 2026. From 1971 to 2025 the yearly average multiplied by 84.1 before inflation and by 10.6 after it.
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Since 1971 that has happened 94 times, about twice a year. The last time was March 2026.
What the record says
Over 54 years the yearly average rose in 38 years and fell in 16. The rises came in a few long runs, and so did the falls.
The largest rise on the year was 1980 at +98.2%, the largest fall 1981 at -24.4%. Read the column in today's dollars to compare across decades: a dollar of 1980 bought several times what a dollar buys now.
These are monthly averages, so a single day's high or low never appears here. The year in progress is shown as far as it goes and marked. Nothing on this page says where the price goes next.
The price since 1971, drawn
The yearly average, in the dollars of each year and in the dollars of September 2026. On a log scale, so the 1970s are not flattened by the 2020s.
What gold did in each decade
Each row runs from the decade's first full year to its last, on yearly averages. The change after inflation uses today's dollars for both ends.
| Decade | From, average | To, average | Change, dollars of the day | Change after inflation | Best year | Worst year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s (1971 to 1979) | $41 in 1971 | $307 in 1979 | +650% | +316% | 1973, +67% | 1976, -22% |
| 1980s | $608 in 1980 | $381 in 1989 | -37% | -58% | 1980, +98% | 1981, -24% |
| 1990s | $384 in 1990 | $279 in 1999 | -27% | -43% | 1994, +7% | 1997, -15% |
| 2000s | $279 in 2000 | $973 in 2009 | +249% | +180% | 2006, +36% | 2001, -3% |
| 2010s | $1,225 in 2010 | $1,393 in 2019 | +14% | -3% | 2011, +28% | 2013, -15% |
| 2020s (2020 to 2025) | $1,770 in 2020 | $3,442 in 2025 | +94% | +56% | 2025, +44% | 2022, +0% |
The best decade after inflation was the 1970s, +316% from 1971 to 1979. The worst was the 1980s, -58%. A decade is a frame, not a cycle: the runs below cut across them.
The price by year, 1971 to 2026
Read one row across: the average for the year, its highest and lowest month, the change on the year, then today's dollars.
| Year | Average, dollars an ounce | Highest month | Lowest month | Change on the year | Average in today's dollars | Barometer that year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | $41 | $43 · August | $38 · January | n/a | $338 | 58 · Mixed |
| 1972 | $58 | $67 · August | $46 · January | +42.2% | $464 | 14 · Historically very unfavorable |
| 1973 | $97 | $120 · June | $65 · January | +67.3% | $731 | 42 · Mixed |
| 1974 | $159 | $184 · December | $129 · January | +63.6% | $1,078 | 58 · Mixed |
| 1975 | $161 | $180 · February | $139 · December | +1.0% | $1,001 | 64 · Favorable |
| 1976 | $125 | $134 · December | $110 · August | -22.4% | $733 | 56 · Mixed |
| 1977 | $148 | $162 · November | $132 · January | +18.3% | $813 | 51 · Mixed |
| 1978 | $193 | $227 · October | $173 · January | +30.8% | $988 | 47 · Mixed |
| 1979 | $307 | $455 · December | $227 · January | +58.8% | $1,403 | 53 · Mixed |
| 1980 | $608 | $675 · January | $514 · May | +98.2% | $2,468 | 52 · Mixed |
| 1981 | $460 | $557 · January | $409 · July | -24.4% | $1,694 | 33 · Unfavorable |
| 1982 | $376 | $445 · December | $315 · June | -18.3% | $1,300 | 22 · Unfavorable |
| 1983 | $423 | $491 · February | $382 · November | +12.5% | $1,419 | 15 · Historically very unfavorable |
| 1984 | $361 | $394 · March | $320 · December | -14.7% | $1,160 | 25 · Unfavorable |
| 1985 | $318 | $330 · August | $299 · February | -11.8% | $987 | 29 · Unfavorable |
| 1986 | $368 | $424 · October | $339 · February | +15.6% | $1,120 | 22 · Unfavorable |
| 1987 | $446 | $486 · December | $401 · February | +21.4% | $1,312 | 21 · Unfavorable |
| 1988 | $437 | $477 · January | $407 · October | -2.1% | $1,236 | 31 · Unfavorable |
| 1989 | $381 | $409 · December | $362 · September | -12.7% | $1,029 | 42 · Mixed |
| 1990 | $384 | $417 · February | $352 · June | +0.5% | $981 | 42 · Mixed |
| 1991 | $362 | $384 · January | $349 · September | -5.5% | $889 | 47 · Mixed |
| 1992 | $344 | $354 · January | $335 · November | -5.1% | $819 | 43 · Mixed |
| 1993 | $360 | $392 · July | $329 · January | +4.7% | $832 | 45 · Mixed |
| 1994 | $384 | $392 · September | $377 · April | +6.7% | $865 | 33 · Unfavorable |
| 1995 | $384 | $391 · April | $377 · February | +0.1% | $842 | 41 · Mixed |
| 1996 | $388 | $405 · February | $369 · December | +0.9% | $826 | 43 · Mixed |
| 1997 | $331 | $355 · January | $289 · December | -14.6% | $690 | 51 · Mixed |
| 1998 | $294 | $308 · April | $284 · August | -11.2% | $603 | 50 · Mixed |
| 1999 | $279 | $311 · October | $256 · July | -5.2% | $559 | 52 · Mixed |
| 2000 | $279 | $300 · February | $266 · November | +0.1% | $542 | 57 · Mixed |
| 2001 | $271 | $283 · September | $260 · April | -2.9% | $511 | 66 · Favorable |
| 2002 | $310 | $332 · December | $282 · January | +14.5% | $576 | 45 · Mixed |
| 2003 | $364 | $407 · December | $328 · April | +17.3% | $660 | 57 · Mixed |
| 2004 | $409 | $442 · December | $384 · May | +12.5% | $724 | 48 · Mixed |
| 2005 | $445 | $510 · December | $422 · May | +8.7% | $761 | 67 · Favorable |
| 2006 | $604 | $675 · May | $550 · January | +35.9% | $1,002 | 44 · Mixed |
| 2007 | $697 | $806 · November | $631 · January | +15.3% | $1,122 | 50 · Mixed |
| 2008 | $872 | $968 · March | $761 · November | +25.1% | $1,353 | 49 · Mixed |
| 2009 | $973 | $1,135 · December | $859 · January | +11.6% | $1,514 | 57 · Mixed |
| 2010 | $1,225 | $1,391 · December | $1,095 · February | +25.9% | $1,876 | 52 · Mixed |
| 2011 | $1,569 | $1,772 · September | $1,360 · January | +28.1% | $2,330 | 54 · Mixed |
| 2012 | $1,670 | $1,747 · October | $1,589 · May | +6.4% | $2,430 | 60 · Favorable |
| 2013 | $1,412 | $1,672 · January | $1,222 · December | -15.4% | $2,025 | 63 · Favorable |
| 2014 | $1,266 | $1,336 · March | $1,175 · November | -10.3% | $1,786 | 60 · Favorable |
| 2015 | $1,161 | $1,251 · January | $1,076 · December | -8.3% | $1,637 | 61 · Favorable |
| 2016 | $1,249 | $1,340 · August | $1,098 · January | +7.6% | $1,739 | 56 · Mixed |
| 2017 | $1,258 | $1,314 · September | $1,192 · January | +0.7% | $1,714 | 60 · Favorable |
| 2018 | $1,269 | $1,335 · April | $1,198 · September | +0.9% | $1,689 | 61 · Favorable |
| 2019 | $1,393 | $1,511 · September | $1,284 · May | +9.7% | $1,820 | 57 · Mixed |
| 2020 | $1,770 | $1,969 · August | $1,561 · January | +27.1% | $2,285 | 52 · Mixed |
| 2021 | $1,800 | $1,867 · January | $1,718 · March | +1.7% | $2,220 | 57 · Mixed |
| 2022 | $1,801 | $1,948 · March | $1,664 · October | +0.1% | $2,058 | 50 · Mixed |
| 2023 | $1,943 | $2,026 · December | $1,855 · February | +7.9% | $2,130 | 46 · Mixed |
| 2024 | $2,388 | $2,690 · October | $2,023 · February | +22.9% | $2,542 | 37 · Unfavorable |
| 2025 | $3,442 | $4,309 · December | $2,710 · January | +44.1% | $3,566 | 37 · Unfavorable |
| 2026 (9 months so far) | $4,552 | $5,020 · February | $4,073 · July | +32.3% | $4,589 | 34 · Unfavorable |
World Bank monthly average price, US dollars per troy ounce. Average is the mean of the year's monthly averages. Highest and lowest are monthly averages, not daily prices. Change on the year compares yearly averages. Today's dollars use the US consumer price index of September 2026. Barometer that year is the mean of the year's twelve monthly readings, rebuilt with only the data known at the time. Where a month's index is not yet published, the last published one is used.
The long runs inside the table
The official price of $35 an ounce ended in 1971. The free price then rose through the decade to a monthly average of $675 in January 1980. It spent the better part of two decades falling and drifting, and only stood at that level again in May 2006.
The runs of three years or more in the yearly average, in either direction:
- Rose every year from 1972 to 1975, 4 years
- Rose every year from 1977 to 1980, 4 years
- Rose every year from 1993 to 1996, 4 years
- Fell every year from 1997 to 1999, 3 years
- Rose every year from 2002 to 2012, 11 years
- Fell every year from 2013 to 2015, 3 years
- Rose every year from 2016 to 2025, 10 years
The record monthly average, $5,020, came in February 2026. In today's dollars the highest month is February 2026, at $5,122.
How long each of those peaks took to come back, before and after inflation, is on how long gold took to recover after each peak. For any of these years: what $10,000 of gold bought then is worth now. Where today's price sits against all of these months after inflation is on is gold expensive right now.
Use the numbers
The monthly series behind this table, with the consumer price index and the barometer's monthly reading, is one open file: monthly-record.json. Credit the World Bank for the price and The Gold Barometer for the reading. The full data page is at Download the data.
The instrument behind these numbers
- Buying conditions today
- Unfavorable
- Months like this since 1971
- 153
- Years in the table
- 56
Which of the seven conditions moved this month is on why is gold going up or down. Each condition has its own page.
Related questions
- What $10,000 of gold bought in each year is worth now
- Gold to silver ratio: today and since 1960
- Is gold expensive right now?
Common questions
What was the gold price in 1971?
$41 an ounce on average, from a $38 monthly average in January 1971 to $43 in August 1971. That year the dollar's fixed link to gold at $35 ended. In the dollars of September 2026, the 1971 average is $338.
What was the gold price in 1980?
$608 an ounce on average. The monthly average peaked at $675 in January 1980, a level not seen again before May 2006. In today's dollars the 1980 average is $2,468.
What is the gold price adjusted for inflation?
Each month's price divided by the US consumer price index of that month, then multiplied by the index of September 2026. It answers: what would that price be in the dollars of today. The highest monthly average in those terms was $5,122, in February 2026.
Where do these prices come from, and why monthly averages?
From the World Bank commodity price data, published monthly under an open licence that allows reuse with credit. The daily London price is licensed and cannot be republished, which is why this table uses monthly averages. The two move together, but a monthly average never shows a single day's high or low.
Today's reading, with the buyer's verdict and the evidence behind it, is on the home page. One email goes out the day the reading moves to a new zone, in either direction. The sign-up is just below.
One email per zone change
Get one email the day gold buying conditions enter a new zone. Up or down.
Since 1971 that has happened 94 times, about twice a year. The last time was March 2026.