Gold delivered its strongest annual gain since 1979 in 2025 — 62.2 percent to US$4,289.48 per ounce at year-end, followed by a brief breach of US$5,000 in January 2026. Four structural forces drove the move: central-bank buying, ETF inflows, real-yield compression and dollar weakness.
| Metric | 2025 Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Average price (WGC) | US$3,431/oz | +45% vs 2024 |
| Year-end price | US$4,289.48/oz | +62.2% YoY |
| New all-time highs (LBMA PM) | 53 | — |
| Central bank net purchases | 863 tonnes | ~2× pre-2022 avg |
| ETF inflows | US$89 billion | Record |
| ETF AUM | US$559 billion | Historical peak |
| ETF holdings | 4,025 tonnes | Historical peak |
| Bar and coin demand | 1,374 tonnes / US$154bn | +16% volume |
| Jewellery demand | 1,542 tonnes | -18% volume / +18% value |
| Global mine supply (USGS) | 3,300 tonnes | +0.6% |
| Global mine supply (Metals Focus) | 3,672 tonnes (record) | — |
Metals Focus projects gold averaging US$4,560 per ounce in 2026, with a plausible path to US$5,000. The World Bank calculated that gold prices sat more than 150 percent above their 2015–2019 average by late 2025. The $5,000 level was briefly touched on 26 January 2026.
Central banks net-purchased over 1,000 tonnes in 2022 and 2023, 1,044 tonnes in 2024, and 863 tonnes in 2025. The World Gold Council's 2025 survey found 95 percent of respondents expecting global reserves to keep rising. The 2022 freezing of Russian reserves accelerated a structural diversification away from dollar-denominated assets.