In the pantheon of investment asset classes, gold had the best return in 2024, measured by the percentage change from the last trading day of 2023 through the last day of 2024. Gold rose 27.5% over the past year, ending the year at $2,641.00, up from $2,071.80 on the last day of 2023.

Silver had the third best return measured this way. Silver ended 2024 at $28.94, up 20.2% from $24.09 at the end of 2023.

The tables here compare the annual returns of gold and silver to nine major financial asset classes, ranging across various equity and bond market segments to ‘Cash equivalent,’ the U.S. Treasury bill rate, and real estate.

It must be noted that the nine asset classes here are indices of numerous individual assets, with the exception of the U.S. Treasury bill/Cash Equivalent. These indices are composed of hundreds or thousands of stocks, bonds, or other assets. Individual assets typically have a greater volatility than do indices of large numbers of assets, so there is some discrepancy in comparing returns on the individual gold and silver assets and these indices. This is the financial industry’s normal approach. Because gold and silver are individual assets, their returns tend to be more volatile than those of indices. As a result, gold and silver returns tend to appear at the top or bottom of the returns rankings.

It is not surprising that gold and silver were two of the top three performers in 2024, given the tremendous amount of economic and political uncertainty around the world last year. These uncertainties are continuing into 2025, with some of them becoming more perplexing than they were in 2024. This may keep gold and silver near the top of the returns score card in 2025.