Gold price today in Jamaica

How gold is sold in Jamaica

We found no hallmarking authority and no published daily gold rate in Jamaica, so jewellers set their own prices. Check the karat stamp and ask for the karat and weight on the receipt, and compare prices karat for karat. Today the bare international price works out to about 20,763 JMD per gram of 24k gold and 8,658 JMD per gram of 10k.

15% GCT and what the shop adds

Jamaica's sales tax is the General Consumption Tax (GCT). Its standard rate has been 15% since 1 April 2020, when it was cut from 16.5%, and GCT on commercial imports fell from 21.5% to 20% on the same day. We could not confirm a jewellery-specific rule or the customs duty on imported jewellery, so ask whether a price includes GCT.

Duty-free shops for visitors

Jamaica has licensed tourist duty-free (in-bond) shops, set up under the Tourist (Duty-Free) Shopping System Act, where visitors can buy jewellery without local duty; since 2010 all incoming visitors can use them. A duty-free price is still not the spot price, and visitors should check their own country's customs allowance before they fly home. Selling old gold for cash is common too: a 2010 Gleaner report found more people selling gold over the Christmas period.

What moves the Jamaican dollar gold price

The Bank of Jamaica says it does not target any level of the exchange rate: it focuses on inflation and on how fast the rate moves, and sells foreign currency to the market through its B-FXITT auctions, introduced in 2017. The local gold price is the dollar price times USD/JMD. See what moves gold prices.

Rules for gold traders in Jamaica

Check that any investment or trading firm is licensed by Jamaica's Financial Services Commission before you use its platform.

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

Trading hours in Jamaica 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 08:00–12:00 Jamaica time. That is when US data such as payrolls and inflation is released and the price usually moves most. Jamaica is on UTC-5 all year, so the overlap falls in the morning, an hour earlier in summer when New York and London change their clocks. The gold market hours tool shows every session in your own time zone.

How this JMD gold price is calculated

Three numbers decide everything on this page. First, the international gold price in US dollars per troy ounce: $4,072.1 at the last update. Second, the exchange rate: 1 USD = 158.59 JMD. Third, the weight: one troy ounce is 31.1035 grams, and one tola is 11.6638 grams.

1. Price per gram in USD = $4,072.1 ÷ 31.1035 = $130.92.
2. Price per gram in JMD = $130.92 × 158.59 = 20,763 JMD (24k, pure gold).
3. Price per 10 grams = 20,763 × 10 = 207,627 JMD.
4. For a lower purity, multiply by the fineness: 18k = 0.75, 14k = 0.585, 10k = 0.417.

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 Jamaica, 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