Falls are not the hard part
Everyone knows gold and silver can fall. The harder fact is how long a fall can last. This post uses the daily rupee-per-gram series behind our gold and silver pages, which starts on 30 August 2000, to find each time either metal fell 20% or more from a peak, and how many calendar days passed before it closed at a new high.
Gold
| Peak | Low | Fall | Days to regain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 May 2006 (1,037) | 4 Oct 2006 | −20.5% | 545 |
| 15 Jul 2008 (1,355) | 15 Aug 2008 | −20.2% | 85 |
| 8 Oct 2008 (1,392) | 13 Nov 2008 | −20.2% | 107 |
| 14 Sep 2012 (3,153) | 5 Aug 2015 | −29.4% | 2,474 |
| 6 Aug 2020 (4,982) | 30 Mar 2021 | −21.0% | 579 |
| 29 Jan 2026 (15,738) | 29 Jun 2026 | −22.1% | not yet regained |
The 2012 episode stands out. Gold fell for nearly three years and then spent almost four more climbing back, a total of about 6.8 years below its old high. Our post on gold in rupees versus gold in dollars shows how the rupee and dollar prices of gold can tell different stories.
Every other completed episode was regained within about 19 months.
Silver
| Peak | Low | Fall | Days to regain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 Apr 2004 (11.5) | 7 May 2004 | −30.5% | 589 |
| 11 May 2006 (21.4) | 13 Jun 2006 | −33.8% | 630 |
| 5 Mar 2008 (26.7) | 13 Nov 2008 | −48.1% | 560 |
| 2 Dec 2009 (28.7) | 5 Feb 2010 | −22.5% | 272 |
| 29 Apr 2011 (69.2) | 18 Mar 2020 | −59.6% | 3,391 |
| 10 Aug 2020 (70.6) | 1 Sep 2022 | −36.4% | 1,332 |
| 26 Jan 2026 (338.5) | 16 Jul 2026 | −48.8% | not yet regained |
Silver's longest wait was 3,391 days, nearly 9.3 years, from April 2011 to August 2020. For most of that time, an investor sat on a loss that reached 59.6% at its worst, in March 2020.
In the episodes where both metals peaked within weeks of each other (2006, 2008, 2020 and 2026), silver fell further than gold each time. The 2020 peak took 1,332 days, about 3.6 years, to regain.
Where the two stand now
| Peak | 13 Oct 2026 | Below peak | Days since peak | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 15,738.1 (29 Jan) | 12,912.7 | −18.0% | 257 |
| Silver | 338.5 (26 Jan) | 186.4 | −44.9% | 260 |
Gold's low so far was 12,253.0 on 29 June, and it has since recovered 5.4% from there. Silver's low was 173.4 on 16 July, and it is 7.5% above that. Both are inside the range of earlier falls. Silver's 48.8% drop at the low matches 2008's 48.1%, the deepest of the pre-2011 episodes, and is behind only the 2011 to 2020 drawdown.
For the year's moves in detail, see gold and silver prices for 2026 to October and silver's fall from its January peak.
What to take from it
Metals can wait a long time. Both gold and silver have gone years without a new high, and silver once went close to a decade. Anyone who needs money by a fixed date should know that a metal's long-run record does not tell you where it will be on that date.
All prices are rupees per gram of the series we publish, not a jeweller's rate, and exclude GST, making charges and fund costs. This describes the past and is not advice to buy or sell.
Frequently asked questions
How long did gold take to recover after its 2012 peak in rupees?
Gold in our rupee-per-gram series peaked at 3,153.3 on 14 September 2012, fell 29.4% to 2,227.7 on 5 August 2015, and did not close above 3,153.3 again until 24 June 2019. That is 2,474 days, about 6.8 years.
How far are gold and silver from their 2026 peaks?
On 13 October 2026 gold was 12,912.7 rupees per gram, 18.0% below its 15,738.1 peak of 29 January. Silver was 186.4, 44.9% below its 338.5 peak of 26 January. Both peaks are 257 and 260 days old.
Is silver more volatile than gold?
In this record, yes. Silver's falls of 20% or more have been deeper and longer: it fell 59.6% from its April 2011 peak and took 3,391 days to regain it, against 29.4% and 2,474 days for gold's worst episode.
This is commentary on published data, not investment advice. WealthTicker is not a SEBI-registered adviser or distributor. Figures are WealthTicker’s own calculations from public data — AMFI’s fund NAVs and disclosures, NSE’s index and FII/DII files, and the fund houses’ monthly portfolios (how we calculate). They are as of the dates stated and can be revised by their source.
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