Gold vs. Inflation: China
Is gold a hedge against inflation where you live? Inflation is felt in a country’s own currency, so this page prices gold in CNY and compares its twelve-month change with China’s consumer-price inflation, month by month from Apr 2005 to Aug 2026. When the gold line is above the inflation line, gold more than kept up with prices over that year.
Inflation now
+0.8%
Aug 2026, year on year
Gold in CNY
+22.0%
12 months to Aug 2026
Gold beat inflation by
+21.0 pts
real gold return, 12 months
Central bank rate
3.00%
People's Bank of China
Gold in CNY, 12-month change(left axis)Inflation, year on year(left axis)
How often gold beat inflation
Averages of the monthly twelve-month figures, in CNY. “Beat” counts the months in which gold’s twelve-month change was above inflation.
| Period | Gold, average | Inflation, average | Months gold beat it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last 10 years | +15.8% | +1.4% | 76% |
| Last 20 years | +11.4% | +2.2% | 67% |
| Whole record | +12.0% | +2.2% | 68% |
How to read this
- Gold is the month-end close in US dollars converted at that month’s CNY exchange rate, so a falling CNY lifts gold in CNY terms even when the dollar price is flat.
- Inflation is the year-on-year change in the consumer price index. Both lines are twelve-month changes, so they are directly comparable.
- Gold is volatile: it often lags inflation for years and then catches up. These are past figures, not a forecast, and nothing here is investment advice.
Gold and inflation in other countries
Interest-rate and inflation data: Bank for International Settlements (BIS), data.bis.org. The BIS is not affiliated with and does not endorse this site.