The price of gold has hit the $3,000 per ounce mark for the first time as demand for the precious metal surges amid economic uncertainty over the impact of a global trade war.
Spot gold touched a record $3,004.86 per ounce on Friday, with prices having risen by 14% since the start of 2025.
Gold is seen as a safe asset for investors and is often sought after in times of economic instability.
The escalating trade war between the US and many of its largest trading partners has unsettled financial markets and raised concerns about the impact on economies and consumers across the world.
The introduction of tariffs, which are taxes charged on businesses importing goods from overseas, has fuelled fears of price inflation, which has driven investors to gold.
When tariffs are imposed on goods, businesses face extra costs, which could be passed on through the price tags of the products sold to consumers – increasing the cost of living.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump threatened a 200% tariff on any alcohol coming to the US from the European Union (EU) in the latest twist of the trade war.
The announcement was in response to the EU’s plans for a 50% tax on imports of US-produced whiskey as part of the bloc’s first retaliation to Trump’s blanket tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports to the US from any country.
The US president has also raised levies on Chinese imports into the US to at least 20%.
“In a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty and ongoing tariff changes, appetite for gold remains strong,” said Suki Cooper, a precious metals analyst at Standard Chartered.
She added there were “multiple factors” driving demand for gold, including central banks continuing to purchase it.
Peaks and troughs of the gold price have occurred at some of the key moments in economic history. At the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2007, investors bought gold as a haven asset, which led to a rise in its price.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said we were in an “era in which gold is really starting to shine”.
He said since the metal dipped below $1,200 an ounce in late 2018, prices had “marched inexorably higher”, driven by several factors including the Covid pandemic and higher government deficits pushing investors to “warm to gold once more”.
Mr Mould cited World Gold Council figures, which showed central banks had added some 1,045 tonnes of gold to their reserves last year – the third year in a row more than 1,000 tonnes had been bought.
“Quite which of these issues is now the main driver of gold’s renaissance is hard to divine, especially as Donald Trump’s tariffs are prompting a debate about how inflationary (or stagflationary) they may prove to be, and how effective they may be at funding the new US President’s hoped-for tax cuts,” he said.
