Gold Price in the 2000s

The decade began where the 1990s bear market ended: gold averaged $279 in 2000 and bottomed at a $271 average in 2001, the year of the September 11 attacks and recession. From there the trend never broke. Averages climbed through $310, $363, $409, and $444 from 2002 to 2005 as the dollar weakened, the Iraq War began, and the Federal Reserve kept policy loose after the dot-com bust.

The second half accelerated. The arrival of physically backed gold ETFs, beginning with the first major US fund in November 2004, opened bullion to mainstream portfolios, and the 2006 average jumped 36 percent to $604. Then came the crisis: 2008 saw gold cross $1,000 per ounce for the first time in March, around $1,033, before averaging $872 through the Lehman Brothers collapse. With the Fed launching quantitative easing, the 2009 average reached $972 and gold closed the decade above $1,000, setting up the run to the 2011 record.

The macro backdrop flipped from the 1990s. Real interest rates fell as the Fed cut aggressively after the dot-com bust, the dollar entered a multi-year bear market, and central banks slowed the selling that had capped prices for two decades. Each shock of the decade, from 9/11 to the Iraq War to the subprime meltdown, reminded investors why they hold a crisis asset.

Just as important was access. Before gold ETFs, buying bullion meant dealers, premiums, and storage; after them, any brokerage account could hold gold in seconds, and institutional money followed. The decade ended with the 2008 to 2009 crisis validating the whole thesis, a story that continued into the 2010s. For these prices restated in today's dollars, see the inflation-adjusted gold price table.