Gold drawdown: 25.1% below the all-time high
Gold is 25.1% below its all-time high, set Jan 29, 2026 (as of market close, Jul 23, 2026). The chart shows every day as a percentage of the highest level reached up to that point: 100% means a fresh record, everything below is a drawdown.
- Below all-time high
- −25.1%
- 74.9% of ATH
- All-time high
- $495.9
- Jan 29, 2026
- Time below the high
- 6 mo
- since Jan 29, 2026
- Worst-ever drawdown
- −45.6%
- Dec 17, 2015
- Longest underwater
- 8.9 yrs
- between all-time highs
- Today's level first reached
- Oct 8, 2025
- 9 mo ago
- Last time this deep
- Mar 19, 2020
- in a previous episode
% of all-time high since 2004#
The classic underwater chart (drawdown curve), drawn as % of the all-time high — 100% is a fresh record, everything below it is time spent underwater.
% of all-time high on the price basis — the all-time high considers the full history of Gold, including years before the visible window. Gold pays no dividends, so price and total return coincide.
The deepest drawdowns on record#
Every decline of 15% or more from an all-time high (price basis), deepest first.
| Peak | Trough | Depth | Peak → trough | Recovered by | Underwater |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 22, 2011 | Dec 17, 2015 | −45.6% | 4.3 yrs | Jul 29, 2020 | 8.9 yrs |
| Mar 17, 2008 | Nov 12, 2008 | −29.4% | 8 mo | Sep 16, 2009 | 18 mo |
| Jan 29, 2026 | Jul 16, 2026 | −26.4% | 6 mo | not yet | 6 mo+ |
| Aug 6, 2020 | Sep 26, 2022 | −22.0% | 2.1 yrs | Mar 4, 2024 | 3.6 yrs |
| May 12, 2006 | Jun 14, 2006 | −21.8% | 33 days | Sep 18, 2007 | 16 mo |
Price basis (no dividends) — the convention crash histories use. With dividends reinvested, recoveries arrive years earlier; switch the basis on the chart above to see it.
Drawdown vs what came next#
One dot per month since 2004: how far Gold stood below its all-time high, and the total return over the following 1, 5 and 10 years.
Read this with survivorship bias in mind: a single asset's history is one surviving sample, so past recoveries here say little about the odds ahead. Monthly windows also overlap heavily (they are not independent samples). Not investment advice.
FAQ
- How far is Gold from its all-time high?
- Gold is currently 25.1% below its all-time high, set Jan 29, 2026 (as of market close, Jul 23, 2026). Prices only, the convention headlines use; with dividends reinvested the gap is usually smaller.
- What was the biggest Gold drawdown ever?
- The deepest decline on record in our data (since 2004) took Gold 45.6% below its prior high, bottoming Dec 17, 2015. The table on this page lists every major episode with its peak, trough and recovery date.
Methodology & related#
Daily data since 2004 from GLD, Gold's tracking fund; no free deep history exists for Gold — for a 150-year drawdown record see the S&P 500 drawdown page. The price basis excludes dividends; the total-return basis reinvests them; the real basis additionally deflates by CPI. See also returns by year, 150 years of returns and the rolling-returns explorer. Past performance does not predict future returns; not investment advice.