How has gold performed over the last quarter century?
News Arnulf Hinkel, Financial Journalist – 20.01.2025
In 2024, there probably was not a single gold investor in the Eurozone unenthused by the 35 per cent increase in the price of the precious metal. As it turns out, gold proved one of last year’s most successful assets. While forecasts for future performance are always fraught with uncertainty, an analysis of historical data is reliable. The gold price trend over the last 25 years shows how differently it developed in individual years. So, was it worth buying gold at the turn of the millennium and holding it until today?
From 38.6 per cent up to 30.9 per cent down – but with a clear trend
Over the last 25 years, gold has performed mostly positively. Among the highlights are an increase of 38.6 per cent in 2010 and 35.1 per cent in 2005 as well as , most recently, 35.6 per cent in 2024. On the other hand, the gold price also experienced a crash of 30.9 per cent in 2013. Within these 25 years, however, the precious metal performed positively 20 times. In the 5 years it recorded losses, the gold price was down between 0.2 and 1.9 per cent. The bottom line is an average price increase of 9.5 per cent. Overall, gold in the Eurozone has gained 900 per cent in value over the last quarter of a century. In the same period, the S&P500 index rose by only 310 per cent.
Largely similar developments in other currency regions
In the global currency for gold trading, the US dollar, gold performance within the last quarter century ranged from a maximum gain of a 30.9 per cent in 2007 to a 28 per cent loss in 2013. In these 25 years, the US gold price overall developed positively in 18 years, and negatively in seven. The average performance over 25 years was an increase of 9.7 per cent. Slightly stronger performances were seen in the UK with an average gain of 10.8 per cent, Japan with 11.6 per cent and India with 12.8 per cent; weaker performances in Switzerland with an appreciation of 7.1 per cent and China with 9.1 per cent. Globally, the price of gold has risen by an average of 10 per cent per year over the last quarter century.
