What if you invested $1,000 in Gold (GLD) in 2004? (Inflation-Adjusted)

GLD · Commodity · Adjusted to 2026 dollars using BLS CPI-U data

View nominal (non-adjusted) version

A $1,000 investment in Gold (GLD) in 2004 grew to $9,498 in nominal terms. But 2004 dollars had 78% more purchasing power than today. After adjusting for cumulative inflation using BLS CPI-U data, the real value of that growth works out to $5,336 in constant 2004 dollars, equivalent to a +7.8% real annualized return.

Nominal final value

$9,498

+849.8% total return

Real value (2004 dollars)

$5,336

+433.6% real total return

Real annualized return

+7.8%

vs. +10.6% nominal annualized

Cumulative CPI-U inflation since 2004: 78% (1 dollar in 2004 = $1.78 in 2026)

Year-by-Year (Inflation-Adjusted)

$1,000 in Gold (GLD) since 2004, values in constant 2004 dollars

YearNominal ValueReal Value (2004 $)
2004$1,000$1,000
2005$936$904
2006$1,257$1,179
2007$1,437$1,308
2008$2,026$1,775
2009$2,024$1,785
2010$2,348$2,019
2011$2,878$2,377
2012$3,752$3,036
2013$3,573$2,830
2014$2,662$2,078
2015$2,736$2,137
2016$2,370$1,824
2017$2,561$1,928
2018$2,829$2,066
2019$2,765$1,973
2020$3,310$2,324
2021$3,826$2,558
2022$3,725$2,281
2023$3,976$2,346
2024$4,177$2,393
2025$5,731$3,219
2026$9,861$5,540

Inflation adjustment uses BLS CPI-U annual data, deflated to 2026 dollars. Nominal stock data from Yahoo Finance (split-adjusted closing prices). Real values are expressed in constant 2004 purchasing-power dollars. For informational and educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. See our methodology and full disclaimer.