Gold rate today in Ethiopia

How gold is priced in Ethiopia

Gold is quoted per gram in birr. The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has been the only authorised buyer and exporter of gold, and it pays miners a premium over the international price: IMF documents put it at about 5–15%. Shop prices can sit well above the NBE price. In October 2025, traders in Addis Ababa's Piassa market quoted 24k gold far above the 'NBE official price' of the same day (Frontier Africa Reports). Today the bare international price works out to about 20,981 ETB per gram of 24k gold and 18,358 ETB for 21k.

The central bank plans to step back

IMF documents reported by The Reporter (January 2026) say the NBE will exit the gold market towards the end of December 2026, and that private banks will be allowed to buy gold. A July 2026 report adds that a plan to phase out the premium paid to miners was due by the end of September 2026. These are plans, so check the NBE's latest notices: the rules may have changed after this page was written.

Official gold exports jumped

Official gold exports rose from just over 4 tonnes in 2023/24 to nearly 39 tonnes in 2024/25, and the IMF expects about 30 tonnes in 2025/26 (The Reporter). Tigray delivered 18.9 tonnes, about half of official deliveries, in 2024/25 (Frontier Africa Reports).

VAT

Ethiopia's VAT Proclamation No. 1341/2024 sets a 15% rate on taxable supplies that are not zero-rated; zero-rated and exempt supplies are listed in its schedules. We could not read the schedules, so we cannot say how gold or jewellery is treated. Ask whether a price includes VAT.

What moves the birr gold price

In July 2024 the NBE let banks and authorised foreign exchange dealers set their own exchange rates (directive FXD/01/2024, in force from 30 July 2024), and it publishes an indicative daily exchange rate. The birr gold price is the dollar price times USD/ETB, so a weaker birr raises the local price even when gold is flat in dollars. See what moves gold prices.

Rules for gold traders in Ethiopia

Check the legal position, and any platform's licence, before you trade gold online.

Our country guides explain how to check a firm before you open an account.

Trading hours in East Africa Time

The international gold market trades almost around the clock, from Monday morning in Asia to Friday evening in New York. The busiest window, the London–New York overlap, falls today at about 16:00–20:00 EAT. That is when US data such as payrolls and inflation is released and the price usually moves most. Ethiopia is on EAT (UTC+3) all year, so the overlap falls in the late afternoon and evening. The gold market hours tool shows every session in your own time zone.

How this ETB gold price is calculated

Three numbers decide everything on this page. First, the international gold price in US dollars per troy ounce: $4,042.7 at the last update. Second, the exchange rate: 1 USD = 161.42 ETB. Third, the weight: one troy ounce is 31.1035 grams, and one tola is 11.6638 grams.

1. Price per gram in USD = $4,042.7 ÷ 31.1035 = $129.98.
2. Price per gram in ETB = $129.98 × 161.42 = 20,981 ETB (24k, pure gold).
3. Price per 10 grams = 20,981 × 10 = 209,805 ETB.
4. For a lower purity, multiply by the fineness: 22k = 0.9167, 21k = 0.875, 18k = 0.75.

The gold price is the spot price of gold (XAUUSD) from a public real-time feed, refreshed every few seconds while the page is open; the 7-day table and the 30-session chart use COMEX gold futures closes, which usually sit a few dollars above spot. The exchange rate is a mid-market rate; the rate your bank or money changer gives you will be slightly different. If you want to do the maths yourself, our guide to converting the gold price per gram, tola and kilo walks through every step with worked examples.

What this price does not include

The figures above are the international spot price converted into local currency. They are the starting point for every retail price in Ethiopia, but they are not the price you will pay or receive at a shop. The shop price adds some or all of these on top:

• Import duty or customs charges, where gold or jewellery is imported.
• Sales tax or VAT, where the country charges one. Many countries tax jewellery but not investment bars; the sections above say what applies here.
• Dealer premium: the margin a bullion dealer or bank adds to the spot price for bars and coins, usually larger on small pieces.
• Making charges (labour) on jewellery, often a percentage of the gold value or a fixed amount per gram.
• Local supply and demand, which can push the physical price to a premium or a discount against the international price for weeks at a time.

When you sell, the buyer usually quotes below the spot-based number and deducts for purity testing, wear and sometimes stones. The gap between the buying and the selling price is the real cost of owning physical gold, and it varies a lot between shops, so it is worth asking several.

Frequently asked questions