Gold price today in Norway

VAT on investment gold: Norway is different

Norway is outside the EU, and unlike most countries in Europe, it charges VAT on investment gold. A private person buying bars or coins pays the normal 25% VAT in the price, just as on jewellery. Today the bare international price works out to about 1,223 NOK per gram of 24k gold, before VAT, 917 NOK for 18k and 715 NOK for 14k.

Since 1 January 2014, when a business or public body buys gold of at least 325 thousandths, the buyer accounts for the VAT instead of the seller. The tax administration says this was done to stop VAT fraud with investment gold run through organised networks. A business buyer that is not VAT-registered must account for it once its gold purchases in a period pass NOK 2,000 before VAT. The rule does not cover gold items priced mainly on design, function or artistic value, such as jewellery, watches and cutlery: they are ordinary sales at 25%.

Hallmarks are voluntary

Norway has a voluntary control system for precious metals. The authorised assay office is Justervesenet (the Norwegian Metrology Service) at Kjeller, near Oslo. The legal gold finenesses listed for Norway are 999, 916, 750, 585 and 375 thousandths (24, 22, 18, 14 and 9 karat).

Is a gain on gold taxable?

It can be. In a decision of 16 December 2020, the tax appeals board quoted a 1981 tax directorate letter: gold coins bought and kept in a bank box, then sold at a gain, are probably not household goods, and the gain is then taxable. Each case is judged on its facts, so keep your receipts.

Norges Bank sold its gold

Norway's central bank holds almost no gold today. In January 2004 Norges Bank sold 16 tonnes of gold bars and planned to sell the rest; at the end of 2003 it had held about 37 t, mostly bars and some coins. It kept seven bars for exhibitions.

What moves the krone gold price

The krone price of gold is the dollar price converted at the USD/NOK rate, so a weaker krone raises the local gold price even when gold is flat in dollars. Norges Bank publishes daily exchange rates at about 16:00 CET; they are indicative only. See what moves gold prices.

Rules for gold traders in Norway

Finanstilsynet, the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway, supervises investment firms and has its own rules on CFDs for retail clients, on which ESMA gave an opinion on 3 February 2020. Check a firm's authorisation before you trade.

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

Trading hours in Central European 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 14:00–18:00 CET/CEST. That is when US data such as payrolls and inflation is released and the price usually moves most. Norway is on CET (UTC+1) in winter and CEST (UTC+2) in summer, so the overlap falls in the afternoon; it moves by an hour for a few weeks a year because Europe and the US change their clocks on different dates. The gold market hours tool shows every session in your own time zone.

How this NOK 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 = 9.4056 NOK. 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 NOK = $129.98 × 9.4056 = 1,223 NOK (24k, pure gold).
3. Price per 10 grams = 1,223 × 10 = 12,225 NOK.
4. For a lower purity, multiply by the fineness: 22k = 0.9167, 18k = 0.75, 14k = 0.585, 9k = 0.375.

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 Norway, 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