Gold Price in Egypt Today

Why 21 karat sets the tone in Egypt

Egyptians price and talk about gold in 21 karat first, and the 24K and 18K rates are read from it. When someone in Cairo says “the gold price went up,” they almost always mean the 21K gram.

It fits the market: 21K is soft enough to work into traditional designs but durable enough for daily wear, and it is the standard for the shabka, the jewelry a groom gives at engagement.

The gold pound

The Egyptian gold pound (geneh dahab) weighs 8 grams of 21K, so it holds 7 grams of pure gold. It is the most popular small savings piece and trades close to its metal value plus a modest workmanship charge. Half and quarter pounds of 4 g and 2 g are also sold.

18K has grown as prices rose, because it gives a bigger-looking piece for the same money. It also resells for less per gram, which matters if the jewelry is meant as savings.

Deriving 24K and 18K from the 21K price

Because everything is read from 21K, two ratios do most of the work. The 24K gram is the 21K gram × 8/7 (about 1.143), and the 18K gram is the 21K gram × 6/7 (about 0.857). If a shop’s 18K rate is well above six-sevenths of its 21K rate, the gap is margin rather than gold.

How often Egyptian prices change

Shops update their boards several times a day when the world price or the pound moves. Because 21K is the reference, a report that says gold rose by a certain number of pounds usually refers to the 21K gram; the 24K move will be about 14% larger and the 18K move about 14% smaller.

The exchange-rate gap and local gold premiums

Egypt floated the pound in November 2016 and moved to a flexible rate again in March 2024. In the months before each change, the parallel dollar rate ran well above the official one, and local gold traded at a large premium to the converted international price because people bought gold to protect their savings.

Traders use gold to work out the implied dollar rate:

1. Take the local 24K price per gram in pounds.
2. Take the international price per gram in dollars (ounce price ÷ 31.1035).
3. Divide the first by the second. The result is the exchange rate the gold market is using.
4. Compare it with the official rate. A wide gap signals currency stress, not a change in gold.

Worked example

Suppose, for illustration, local 24K is EGP 5,000 per gram and the world price is $100 per gram. The implied rate is 50 pounds per dollar. If the bank rate that day were 48, gold would be carrying a premium of about 4%; if it were 40, the premium would be 25%, the kind of gap seen before the 2024 shift.

The dollar input for this check is today’s gold price converted to grams.

Gold as savings during inflation

During the high inflation of 2022 to 2024, many Egyptian households moved savings from pounds into gold pounds and small bars. That wave of buying is one reason local prices ran ahead of the converted world price. When the currency stabilized after the March 2024 shift, the premium shrank sharply, and people who had bought at the widest gap saw local prices fall even though world gold was rising.

El-Sagha, Egyptian stamps and the shabka

Cairo’s traditional goldsmiths’ quarter, El-Sagha, lies next to Khan el-Khalili, and Alexandria has its own jewelers’ streets. Prices are posted per gram for each karat, with workmanship added.

• Egyptian jewelry is stamped by the state assay office, known as the Damgha. Look for its mark next to the karat.
• The workmanship fee (masna’eya) is charged per gram and varies by design.
• When you sell, shops pay the metal value and usually keep the workmanship.
• Get the weight and karat written on the receipt.

For the purity math in dollars, see the 21K gold price.

Comparing workmanship between shops

• Machine-made chains and plain bangles carry the lowest masna’eya per gram.
• Handmade pieces and fine filigree cost more, and the price depends on the craftsman.
• Imported Italian and Turkish designs in 18K often carry the highest labor per gram.
• Gold pounds and bars carry a small fixed charge rather than jewelry-style labor.

Selling broken gold

Old or broken jewelry is sold as kasr, scrap gold, at a rate slightly below the day’s karat price. Families often trade kasr against new pieces, paying only the difference plus workmanship. Ask for the kasr rate before choosing new jewelry, not after. Some shops take a slightly bigger deduction on pieces bought elsewhere, so selling back to the original shop with its invoice can fetch a better rate.

Shabka, weddings and a worked example

The shabka is negotiated between families, and its size is often agreed in grams of 21K. Wedding season peaks after Ramadan and in summer, when gold shops see their busiest weeks.

Pricing a 50 g shabka

1. Take an example 21K rate of EGP 4,000 per gram (illustration only): 50 g is EGP 200,000 of metal.
2. Add an example workmanship of EGP 150 per gram: EGP 7,500.
3. The total is EGP 207,500 before any stones.
4. If sold back as kasr at an example 2% below the karat rate, the metal returns about EGP 196,000.

Seen that way, the labor and the kasr discount are the real cost of holding gold as jewelry rather than as gold pounds or bars.

Agreeing in grams, not pounds

When gold prices climb quickly, families that agreed a shabka in pounds find the money buys fewer grams by the wedding date. Agreeing the weight and karat instead keeps the gift the same size whatever the price does, and many families now write it that way. The groom’s side then decides when to buy, sometimes spreading purchases over several months.

Lighter shabka sets increasingly use 18K; see the 18K gold price for that comparison.

Gold pounds, bars and a short glossary

Savers who want gold without labor choose gold pounds or small bars from 1 g upward, and some buy them a gram or two at a time from each month’s income. Their premium over metal value is much lower than jewelry workmanship, and they are quick to resell.

• Dahab: gold. Iyar 21 means 21 karat.
• Geneh dahab: the 8 g gold pound in 21K.
• Sabika: a bar or ingot, usually 24K.
• Masna’eya: workmanship charge per gram.
• Kasr: scrap or broken gold sold back to a shop.
• Damgha: the state assay stamp.
• Shabka: the engagement jewelry a groom gives the bride.
• El-Sagha: Cairo’s goldsmiths’ quarter beside Khan el-Khalili.

Visitors buying in Khan el-Khalili

Tourists buying cartouche pendants and bracelets should confirm the karat stamp and weight, since the bazaar sells gold-plated silver alongside real gold. Keep the receipt; Egyptian rules on taking gold out of the country and your home country’s customs rules both apply. Americans list the purchase on the CBP declaration on arrival, and anything above the personal exemption may be dutiable.

For weight-based math, use our gold price per gram.

Arabic readers can use the Egypt gold rate in Arabic.

Other currencies are on the gold price by country list.