2018 was a choppy, range-bound year for gold. A strengthening US dollar and a Federal Reserve steadily raising interest rates capped the metal for most of the year, even as the US–China trade war escalated and equity markets wobbled into the autumn. Gold finished roughly flat, coiling for the breakout that would come in 2019 once the Fed reversed course. It was the quiet before a powerful new leg higher.
Gold Price History · The Free-Float Era
2018
The Trade-War Year
A rising dollar and rate hikes weighed on gold, even as trade tensions unsettled markets.
- Average price
- $1,269/oz
- In 2025 dollars
- $1,627/oz
- Change on the year
- +0.9%
- After inflation
- −1.5%
2018 in context · real value, 1998–2025
What would $10,000 of gold in 2018 be worth today?
Run the numbers across gold, stocks, housing, and bonds — adjusted for inflation.
Calculate 2018 →How gold did in 2018
Value at year-end of $10,000 invested on 1 January 2018.
Gold $10,094 +0.9%
S&P 500 (total return) $9,577 −4.2%
US housing $10,602 +6.0%
Inflation (CPI) $10,244 +2.4%
Annual-average basis. Gold: Officer & Williamson; S&P 500 & Treasuries: Damodaran (NYU); housing: Shiller; CPI: BLS. Methodology →
Related years
Sources. Gold price: Officer & Williamson, The Price of Gold, 1257–Present (annual average); inflation adjustment by US CPI (BLS / Officer & Williamson). Asset comparison from the calculator dataset. Figures are annual averages. Full methodology →