Gold & Silver Price History
The long-run annual performance record of Gold and Silver, calculated from verified World Bank monthly observations. What each metal returned in each calendar year, how complete the record is for that year, and where every figure came from — historical monthly averages, not spot or current prices.
Choose a metal and period
Gold historical price
World Bank Commodity Price Data ("Pink Sheet") monthly averages, USD per troy ounce — historical, never a spot or current price.
Period shown Aug 2016 – Jul 2026Observations 120 monthlyLow 1157 USDHigh 5020 USD
Over this period
CalculationUSD per troy ounceAnnual performance, year by year
CalculationUSD, first to last observation each yearGold and Silver side by side, every calendar year in the selected period. Both columns stay visible whichever metal is charted above — a year's return only means something next to the other metal's.
For each calendar year: the change between the FIRST and LAST monthly observation that actually exists in that year. January and December are never assumed — a year beginning in March is measured from March, and marked partial.
A return needs at least two observations in the same year. A year holding only one is reported as not calculable — not as a 0% change, and not as “no change”: one price cannot say what a price did.
This table scrolls sideways on small screens.
| Year | Gold | Silver | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | -14.31% | -36.16% | Jan 2026 – Jul 2026 |
| 2025 | +59.00% | +104.93% | Full year |
| 2024 | +30.19% | +34.50% | Full year |
| 2023 | +6.74% | +0.84% | Full year |
| 2022 | -0.99% | +0.43% | Full year |
| 2021 | -4.12% | -13.13% | Full year |
| 2020 | +19.03% | +38.89% | Full year |
| 2019 | +14.47% | +9.62% | Full year |
| 2018 | -6.09% | -13.45% | Full year |
| 2017 | +6.04% | -4.14% | Full year |
| 2016 | -13.66% | -16.33% | Aug 2016 – Dec 2016 |
- Arithmetic mean of yearly changes
- A simple average of the yearly percentages above — not a compound or annualised return, and not comparable to CAGR.
- Gold mean
- +8.76%11 years
- Silver mean
- +9.64%11 years
Coverage & provenance
- Licence
- CC-BY-4.0
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-22
- Frequency & unit
- monthly period averages, USD per troy ounce
- Gold observations shown
- 120 · Aug 2016 – Jul 2026
- Silver observations shown
- 120 · Aug 2016 – Jul 2026
Every figure on this page is a calculation over monthly period averages. A monthly average is not a month-end close and not a spot, dealer or live price, so a "return" here is the change between two monthly averages — which is what the labels say. A month with no verified observation is counted and left out: never forward-filled from the previous month, never interpolated, never recorded as zero. The chart breaks its line across a gap rather than drawing through it.