Gold performance: annual growth rate above 30 per cent three times since 2000

2024 saw an unprecedented gold price rally – or so one might think. However, the massive 35.6 per cent increase in the price of gold in the eurozone by the end of 2024 was neither the highest nor the only one since the turn of the millennium. The strongest appreciation within a year occurred in 2010 at 38.6 per cent. Overall, the eurozone gold price has appreciated 20 times within a year since 1 January 2000.

Similar developments in other currency areas

In the US, by contrast, the gold price rose in 18 out of 25 years and only broke through the 30 per cent barrier once, in 2007. Last year, the US dollar gold price lagged behind its eurozone performance, rising 27.2 per cent. The strongest gold price increase last year happened in Japan at 41.7 per cent. Japan has also seen the sharpest annual gold price appreciation over the last 25 years, by an average of 11.3 per cent. Australia came in second in 2024 at 40.9 per cent, closely followed by Canada with 38.1 per cent. In the eurozone, gold has only increased by an average of 9.4 per cent annually since January 2000, despite breaking through the 30 per cent mark three times and thus landing second-to-last globally. Only Switzerland saw a lower increase in the price of gold, at 7.1 per cent p.a.

The year that saw the euro gold price drop over 30 per cent

In 2013, the financial crisis abated, confidence in government bonds rebounded and the stock markets recovered, offering alternatives to gold as a safe haven. The eurozone, UK, China and Switzerland saw gold prices suffering, with losses of up to 30.9 per cent. Nevertheless, over the last 25 years, gold has increased by an average of almost 9.9 per cent annually worldwide. This example does, however, once again show how strongly the gold price can fluctuate temporarily and how important it is to plan gold investments for the long term.