What Was the Highest Price for Gold? (Updated 2024)

What factors have driven the gold price in the last 5 years?

Five year gold price chart, September 25, 2019, to September 26, 2024.

Despite these recent runs, gold has seen its share of both peaks and troughs over the last decade. After remaining rangebound between US$1,100 and US$1,300 from 2014 to early 2019, gold pushed above US$1,500 in the second half of 2019 on a softer US dollar, rising geopolitical issues and a slowdown in economic growth.

Gold’s first breach of the significant US$2,000 price level in mid-2020 was due in large part to economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. To break through that barrier and reach what was then a record high, the yellow metal added more than US$500, or 32 percent, to its value in the first eight months of 2020.

The gold price breached that level again in early 2022 as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine collided with rising inflation around the world, increasing the allure of safe-haven assets and pulling the yellow metal up to a price of US$2,074.60 on March 8, 2022. However, it fell throughout the rest of 2022, dropping below US$1,650 in October.

Although it didn’t quite reach the level of volatility as the previous year, the gold price experienced drastic price changes in 2023 on the back of banking instability, high interest rates and the breakout of war in the Middle East.

After central bank buying pushed the gold price up to the US$1,950.17 mark by the end of January, the US Federal Reserve’s 0.25 percent rate hike on February 1 sparked a retreat as the dollar and Treasury yields saw gains. The precious metal went on to fall to its lowest price level of the year at US$1,809.87 on February 23.

The banking crisis that hit the US in early March caused a domino effect through the global financial system and led to the mid-March collapse of Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-largest bank. The gold price jumped to US$1,989.13 by March 15. The continued fallout in the global banking system throughout the second quarter of the year allowed gold to break above US$2,000 on April 3, and go on to flirt with a near-record high of US$2,049.92 on May 3.

Those gains were tempered by the Fed’s ongoing rate hikes and improvements in the banking sector, resulting in a downward trend in the gold price throughout the remainder of the second quarter and throughout the third quarter. By October 4, gold had fallen to a low of US$1,820.01 and analysts expected the precious metal to be on the path to drop below the US$1,800 level.

That was before the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel ignited legitimate fears of a much larger conflict erupting in the Middle East. Reacting to those fears, the gold price climbed through the month and closed at US$2,007.08 on October 27. As the Israel-Hamas fighting intensified, gold reached a then new high of US$2,152.30 during intraday trading on December 3.

That robust momentum in the spot gold price has continued into 2024, chasing new highs on fears of a looming US recession, the promise of Fed rate cuts on the horizon, the worsening conflict in the Middle East and the tumultuous US presidential election year. By mid-March, gold was pushing up against the US$2,200 level.

That record-setting momentum continued into the second quarter of 2024 when gold broke through US$2,400 per ounce in mid-April on strong central bank buying, sovereign debt concerns in China and investors expecting the Fed to start cutting interest rates. The precious metal went on to hit US$2,450.05 per ounce on May 20.

Throughout the summer, the hits have just kept on coming. The global macro environment is highly bullish for gold in the lead up to the US election. Following the failed assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump and a statement about coming interest rate cuts by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, the gold spot price hit a new all-time high on July 16 at US$2,469.30 per ounce.

One week later, news that President Joe Biden would not seek re-election and would instead pass the baton to his VP Kamala Harris eased some of the tension in the stock markets and strengthened the US dollar. This also pushed the price of gold down to US$2,387.99 per ounce on July 22.

However, the bullish factors supporting gold over the past year remain in play and the spot price for gold has gone on to breach the US$2,500 level first on August 2 on a less than stellar US jobs report before closing just above the US$2,440 level. A few weeks later, gold pushed past US$2,500 once again on August 16, to close above that level for the first time ever after the US Department of Commerce released data showing a fifth consecutive monthly decrease in a row for homebuilding.

Ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty had the gold spot price supported above the US$2,500 level to a then-high of US$2,530 per ounce on August 20, which it surpassed in September on the interest rate cut news discussed above.

What’s next for the gold price?

What’s next for the gold price is never an easy call to make. There are many factors that affect the gold price, but some of the most prevalent long-term drivers include economic expansion, market risk, opportunity cost and momentum.

Economic expansion is one of the primary gold price contributors as it facilitates demand growth in several categories, including jewelry, technology and investment. As the World Gold Council explains, “This is particularly true in developing economies where gold is often used as a luxury item and a means to preserve wealth.” Market risk is also a prime catalyst for gold values as investors view the precious metal as the “ultimate safe haven,” and a hedge against currency depreciation, inflation and other systemic risks.

Going forward, in addition to the Fed, inflation and geopolitical events, experts will be looking for cues from factors like supply and demand. In terms of supply, the world’s five top gold producers are China, Australia, Russia, Canada and the US. The consensus in the gold market is that major miners have not spent enough on gold exploration in recent years. Gold mine production has fallen from around 3,200 to 3,300 metric tons each year between 2018 and 2020 to around 3,000 to 3,100 metric tons each year between 2021 and 2023.

On the demand side, China and India are the biggest buyers of physical gold, and are in a perpetual fight for the title of world’s largest gold consumer. That said, it’s worth noting that the last few years have brought a big rebound in central bank gold buying, which dropped to a record low in 2020, but reached a 55 year high of 1,136 metric tons in 2022.

The World Gold Council has reported that central bank gold purchases in 2023 came to 1,037 metric tons, marking the second year in a row above 1,000 MT.

‘I think clearing US$2,400 for good — trading a few weeks above that level would be key,’ Lundin said. ‘Eventually I think we’re going to go much higher. The timing of that is always the hard part. Getting back to where I think we’re going to be at the end of this cycle, I think the gold price is going to be somewhere between US$6,000 and US$8,000.’

‘You’ve seen such an incredible breakout (in gold), such an incredible setup — and the public’s just not in the trade yet,’ he said. ‘When they do come back in, I think on the back of some of these capital flows, then that’ll be a big driver of not only gold, but the equities, which today we still really have not seen any material inflows.’

Investor takeaway

While we have the answer to what the highest gold price ever is as of now, it remains to be seen how high gold can climb, and if the precious metal can reach as high as US$5,000, US$10,000 or even US$40,000.

Even so, many market participants believe gold is a must have in any investment profile, and there is little doubt investors will continue to see gold price action making headlines this year and beyond.