Gold price today in Switzerland

How gold is priced in Switzerland

The wholesale reference is the London LBMA Gold Price, set in auctions at 10:30 and 15:00 London time. In francs, the bare international price today is about 3,339 CHF per ounce, 107.34 CHF per gram and 107,343 CHF per kilogram of pure gold.

Every precious-metal article sold in Switzerland, made at home or abroad, must carry a fineness mark in parts per thousand and a responsibility mark registered with the Central Office for Precious Metals Control, part of the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security, which runs random checks at the border and in shops. Precious-metal watch cases must also be officially hallmarked with the head of a St Bernard dog, and Switzerland belongs to the Hallmarking Convention.

VAT: investment gold exempt, jewellery 8.1%

Under article 44 of the VAT Ordinance, sales of investment gold are exempt from VAT (with the right to recover input tax): state-minted gold coins, and bars and granules of at least 995 parts per thousand that carry a fineness mark and the stamp of a recognised assayer-melter (or, for pressed bars, a Swiss-registered responsibility mark). Unprocessed gold and scrap for refining are exempt too. Jewellery, and gold that does not meet the test, pays the standard rate of 8.1%, in force since 1 January 2024 (it was 7.7%).

The refining hub

Switzerland is home to four of the world's largest gold refineries, the largest in Balerna in Ticino and another in the canton of Neuchâtel. According to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Switzerland refined 34% of the world's refined gold in 2023. Swiss customs data showed 139 tonnes of gold exported in July 2025, 54 tonnes of it to the US; exports to the US then fell by more than 99% in August 2025, after a US tariff scare over 1 kg and 100 oz bars.

The Swiss National Bank's gold

The Swiss National Bank holds 1,040 tonnes of gold, unchanged since the end of 2008: about 70% in Switzerland, about 20% in the UK and about 10% in Canada. In 2025 it booked a valuation gain on gold of CHF 36.3 billion, as the gold price rose 45.9% in francs.

What moves the franc gold price

The franc price is the dollar price of gold times USD/CHF. When the franc strengthens against the dollar, the franc gold price rises less than the dollar price, and the reverse is also true. See what moves gold prices.

Rules for gold traders in Switzerland

FINMA supervises banks and securities firms, and a firm needs a Swiss licence to deal with clients. The Financial Services Act, in force since 1 January 2020, requires firms to classify clients as retail, professional or institutional and to give a key information document for many products. Switzerland is outside the EU, so the EU's CFD leverage limits do not apply automatically, and we found no FINMA rule like them.

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. Switzerland is on CET (UTC+1), and CEST (UTC+2) in summer, so the London session is the local working day and the overlap falls in the afternoon. The gold market hours tool shows every session in your own time zone.

How this CHF 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 = 0.8199 CHF. 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 CHF = $130.92 × 0.8199 = 107.34 CHF (24k, pure gold).
3. Price per troy ounce = 107.34 × 31.1035 = 3,338.73 CHF.
4. For a lower purity, multiply by the fineness: 18k = 0.75, 14k = 0.585.

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 Switzerland, 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