Gold return in last 20 years: gold vs Sensex vs FD in India

To measure a return over many years, this guide uses CAGR (compound annual growth rate). CAGR is the steady yearly rate that would take a starting value to an ending value over a number of years. Real prices go up and down along the way, so CAGR is an average, not what happened in each year.

The prices below are the RBI's yearly average gold price in Mumbai, in rupees per 10 grams, for each financial year (April to March). A yearly average is used because a single day's price can be unusually high or low.

CAGR = (ending value ÷ starting value) ^ (1 ÷ years) − 1

Prices have kept moving since March 2026. The RBI's average for April 2026 was ₹1,49,927 per 10 grams, and the Sensex closed at 75,692.78 on 2 November 2026. Check today's gold price on the gold price calculator. A return worked out to a different start or end date will give a different answer.

Work out CAGR for any two pricesEnter a starting price, an ending price and the number of years to see the yearly growth rate.Open with these numbers

Here is what ₹1 lakh would have grown to over 20 years at each average rate, before tax and costs. The gold and Sensex rows use the CAGR worked out above. Bank FD rates moved a lot in this period: the RBI's data for five major banks shows 1 to 3 year deposit rates of 8.00% to 8.75% in 2008-09, 9.00% to 9.25% in 2011-12, 4.90% to 5.30% in 2020-21 and 6.25% to 6.60% in 2025-26. The FD row uses 7% as a simple middle figure, not an exact record.

• Gold did better than the Sensex price index over this 20-year window. The five-year table below shows the Sensex was ahead from 2010-11 to 2015-16, and gold pulled ahead strongly after 2020-21.
• The Sensex figure leaves out dividends. A Sensex investor who received and reinvested dividends earned more than the price index shows.
• FD interest is taxed every year at your slab rate, so the after-tax FD value is lower than shown. Gold and shares are taxed only when you sell.
• The result depends heavily on the dates chosen. Over the 10 years from 2015-16, gold grew 16.13% a year and the Sensex 12.01%.

See how a one-time amount growsEnter an amount, a yearly rate and the number of years to see the value year by year.Open with these numbers

Gold's long-run average hides long quiet periods. The table splits the 20 years into four blocks of five years.

The flat years for gold. The yearly average price was ₹30,164 in 2012-13 and only ₹31,193 in 2018-19. That is a CAGR of about 0.56% over six years. On the way, the average dropped to ₹26,534 in 2015-16, a change of -12.0% from 2012-13. In the same six years the Sensex grew about 12.16% a year.

The bad years for shares. The reverse happened in the 2008 global financial crisis. The Sensex yearly average went from 16,569 in 2007-08 to 12,366 in 2008-09, a change of -25.4%. In the same year the gold average rose 29.0%. Gold and shares often move differently, which is one reason people hold some of both.

The real return is the return left after inflation, because rising prices reduce what your money can buy. To compare like with like, the table uses the years covered by the CPI (Combined) index, base 2012 = 100: from 2011-12 (93.3) to 2024-25 (192.6).

Both gold and the Sensex beat inflation over these 13 years, though by much less than their headline returns suggest. Over a shorter window that starts in 2012-13, gold's real return would be negative for several years, because its price barely moved while CPI inflation was high. To see what inflation does to money over long periods, read value of 1 crore after 20 years.

• Cess is added on top of these rates.
• The ₹1.25 lakh yearly exemption applies to listed shares and equity funds only, not to gold.
• Physical gold also has costs that reduce the return: 3% GST when you buy, making charges on jewellery and a deduction when you sell. See jewellery, coins, gold ETF or gold fund for the details.
• The Sovereign Gold Bond scheme has had no new issue since February 2024.