2023 was a positive year for gold, as a bullish trend in the yellow metal's movements prevailed throughout the year. In particular, the price of gold rose by approximately 13.8% in the full year 2023, reaching an all-time high of $2,134.43 per ounce in the last month of the year, coming above the previous record registered in May of the same year.
The upward trend in gold prices over the last year was driven by multiple factors. Firstly, several interest rate hikes by the world's major central banks, particularly the United States Federal Reserve, in their effort to fight elevated inflation, led to increased investor appetite for the most popular safe-haven asset. In addition, geopolitical tensions, including the renewed crisis in the Middle East triggered by the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza that began on October 7, boosted demand for gold and pushed its price higher. Finally, the banking crisis that started with the crash of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and ended with the collapse of the second-largest Swiss bank, Credit Suisse, prompted investors to seek refuge in the precious metal to protect their financial portfolios, raising the price of gold once again. Although there was some volatility in the price of the yellow metal during 2023, mainly due to signs of recovery in the global economy, this did not affect the overall positive trend seen last year.
2024 could also be a very strong year for gold as experts forecast that the price of the yellow metal will continue its upward path, mainly because the inflation target of 2%, set by the Fed and the European Central Bank, is not expected to be achieved until the end of the year, so central banks would not be able to completely give up their restrictive monetary policy.
