Dubai’s gold market experienced an extraordinary bull run throughout 2025, delivering substantial wealth gains for residents and investors who entered the market at the year’s commencement. The precious metal’s remarkable performance has established 2025 as a landmark period for commodity investments in the United Arab Emirates.
Market data reveals that 24-karat gold, the purest form available to consumers, opened the trading year at Dh318 per gram on January 1, 2025, and concluded at Dh520 per gram on December 31, 2025. This represents a staggering increase of Dh202 per gram, translating to a 63.5 percent annual appreciation—one of the most significant yearly gains in recent history.
The price surge extended across all gold variants traded in the Dubai market. 22-karat gold demonstrated parallel growth, climbing from Dh294.5 to Dh481.5 per gram, while 21-karat gold advanced from Dh285 to Dh461.75 per gram. Even the newly introduced 14-karat variant, launched in late November, recorded a 2.3 percent increase to Dh308.75 per gram despite its limited trading period.
Financial experts attribute this unprecedented rally to multiple converging factors. Aggressive central bank acquisitions of gold reserves, substantial interest rate reductions by the U.S. Federal Reserve, and escalating geopolitical tensions across the Middle East and other global regions created perfect conditions for gold’s ascent.
Vijay Valecha, Chief Investment Officer at Century Financial, characterized 2025 as “a landmark period for precious metals,” noting that gold and silver significantly outperformed broader financial markets. The metal demonstrated remarkable consistency throughout the year, posting gains in eleven of twelve months. September emerged as the strongest month with an 11.94 percent surge, followed by substantial advances in January (6.60 percent) and March (9.31 percent). July represented the only negative month with a marginal 0.40 percent decline.
The investment community responded enthusiastically to gold’s performance, with gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recording net inflows of 15.6 million ounces. This substantial institutional and retail investor participation, combined with sustained central bank purchasing, created sustained upward momentum throughout the trading year.