Gold rate today in Iraq

Gold in Iraq is priced per mithqal

Iraqi gold is quoted per mithqal, which Shafaq News market reports give as 5 grams, and the main karat is 21. Reports quote imported 'Gulf, Turkish and European' 21k and Iraqi-made 21k separately, and Erbil reports also quote 22k and 18k. Today the bare international price works out to about 863,558 IQD per mithqal of 21k gold and 197,385 IQD per gram of 24k. A shop adds its making charge and margin.

Imported gold is tested and stamped

The Central Organization for Standardization and Quality Control (COSQC), part of the Ministry of Planning, examines and marks gold and silver jewellery, licenses goldsmiths and inspects their workshops. All imported gold, except gold coming in through the Kurdistan Region, is inspected and stamped before it reaches the market. The Ministry of Planning says this is done at designated centres at the airports of Baghdad, Basra, Kirkuk and Najaf; Kirkuk's unit, opened in January 2025, was COSQC's fourth. Iraqi-made gold carries a winged bull mark, according to traders quoted by Shafaq News.

Local and imported gold

Much of the gold sold in Iraq is imported, mainly from the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Türkiye and Italy. Italian gold usually arrives in 14 karat and is reworked into 21 karat for Iraqi buyers. The local gold-making trade, especially on Baghdad's Al-Rashid Street, has declined as imports grew (Shafaq News, 2024).

A 5% levy on imported gold

A Ministry of Finance circular of November 2025 replaced the fee of five per thousand (0.5%) that traders had paid since 2010 with a 5% levy on the value of imported gold. Shafaq News reported in January 2026 that imports at the airports had been effectively blocked from 1 January 2026 while the change took effect. We found no reliable source on VAT or sales tax on gold jewellery in Iraq.

What moves the dinar gold price

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) sets official dollar rates with Cabinet approval. On 7 October 2026, after an emergency recommendation by the finance minister and the CBI governor, the Cabinet set the rates at 1,500 dinars per dollar for the CBI's purchases from the Ministry of Finance, 1,510 for its sales to banks and 1,520 for sales to end users, up from 1,320 for end users. The CBI's website showed 1,510 on 10 November 2026. The dinar gold price is the dollar price times the dinar rate. A shop may use a different dollar rate from the official one, so ask which rate a quote uses. See what moves gold prices.

Rules for gold traders in Iraq

The Iraq Securities Commission warned in September 2024 that being drawn into trading through foreign brokerage firms outside Iraq's markets is illegal, and said it would take legal measures with the Central Bank of Iraq.

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

Trading hours in Arabia Standard 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 AST. That is when US data such as payrolls and inflation is released and the price usually moves most. Iraq is on 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 IQD 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 = 1,518.63 IQD. 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 IQD = $129.98 × 1,518.63 = 197,385 IQD (24k, pure gold).
3. Price per mithqal = 197,385 × 5 = 986,924 IQD.
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 Iraq, 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