Gold Price History · The Free-Float Era

2023

The Central-Bank Bid

Banking turmoil and a second straight year of record official buying kept gold near its highs.

Average price: $1,941/oz
In 2025 dollars: $2,051/oz
Change on the year: +7.8%
After inflation: +3.5%

2023 in context · real value, 2003–2025

Inflation-adjusted to 2025 dollars. See all 768 years →

2023 confirmed that the post-2022 regime was no fluke. Central banks bought gold at a near-record pace for a second consecutive year, providing a powerful floor under the price. A US regional-banking crisis in March — including the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank — sent a fresh safe-haven bid into the metal. Gold held near its all-time highs all year, coiling for the explosive run to new records in 2024 and the historic real-terms milestone of 2025.

Key events of 2023

2023-03-10

SVB collapse

A US regional-banking crisis erupts; gold rallies as a haven.

What would $10,000 of gold in 2023 be worth today?

Run the numbers across gold, stocks, housing, and bonds — adjusted for inflation.

Calculate 2023 →

How gold did in 2023

Value at year-end of $10,000 invested on 1 January 2023.

Gold

$10,778 +7.8%

S&P 500 (total return)

$12,606 +26.1%

US housing

$10,150 +1.5%

Inflation (CPI)

$10,412 +4.1%

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 →