NetReturns

Gold calculator

Gold ETF, gold fund, digital gold or coins: what you'd have after costs and tax.

How you buy gold
How you invest
₹
yrs
%
A year, before costs. RBI's prices give 7.6–12.4% over 10 years (middle 9.7%).
%
Gold ETFs charge about 0.5–0.8% a year.
What you'd have after 10 years, after tax

₹2,19,752

Could be ₹1.83 L – ₹2.77 L, depending on the gold price. Before tax: ₹2,37,646.
You put in
₹1.00 L
Costs
₹14,741
Tax
₹17,894

8.19% a yearafter tax

Value each year if you sold, before taxYour moneyEarned

How the gold price has moved

Gold averaged ₹1,18,421 per 10 grams in 2025-26, about 17 times its 2005-06 average. Over every 10-year stretch of the last 20 years it grew between 5.7% and 16.1% a year.

  • Gold pays no interest, so you gain only when its price rises, and it has had long flat spells: after 2012-13, the yearly average didn't beat that level again until 2018-19.
  • The range used here, 7.6% to 12.4% a year (middle 9.7%), is the middle half of those 10-year outcomes, before costs and tax.
  • These are yearly averages, so short spikes and dips are smoothed out. RBI notes that prices up to 1999-2000 and from 2000-01 come from different sources, so they may not be strictly comparable.
See how the range is worked out
10 yearsGrew a year
2005-06 to 2015-1614.4%
2006-07 to 2016-1712.4%
2007-08 to 2017-1811.4%
2008-09 to 2018-199.2%
2009-10 to 2019-208.9%
2010-11 to 2020-219.7%
2011-12 to 2021-226.4%
2012-13 to 2022-235.7%
2013-14 to 2023-247.6%
2014-15 to 2024-2510.7%
2015-16 to 2025-2616.1%
See every year's price (41)
YearAverage price, 10 grams
2025-26₹1,18,421
2024-25₹75,842
2023-24₹60,624
2022-23₹52,731
2021-22₹47,999
2020-21₹48,723
2019-20₹37,018
2018-19₹31,193
2017-18₹29,300
2016-17₹29,665
2015-16₹26,534
2014-15₹27,415
2013-14₹29,190
2012-13₹30,164
2011-12₹25,722
2010-11₹19,227
2009-10₹15,756
2008-09₹12,890
2007-08₹9,996
2006-07₹9,240
2005-06₹6,901
2004-05₹6,145
2003-04₹5,719
2002-03₹5,332
2001-02₹4,579
2000-01₹4,474
1999-00₹4,394
1998-99₹4,268
1997-98₹4,347
1996-97₹5,071
1995-96₹4,958
1994-95₹4,667
1993-94₹4,532
1992-93₹4,104
1991-92₹4,298
1990-91₹3,452
1989-90₹3,229
1988-89₹3,175
1987-88₹3,082
1986-87₹2,323
1985-86₹2,125

Source: RBI Handbook of Statistics, Table 35, the yearly average gold price in Mumbai.

Good to know

  • A gold ETF holds physical gold for you and trades on the stock exchange like a share. You need a demat and trading account, and pay brokerage when you buy and sell.
  • Gains are taxed at 12.5% if you hold for more than 12 months, and at your slab rate before that.
  • Already hold Sovereign Gold Bonds, or thinking of buying them on the exchange? Use the SGB calculator.