Palladium (Pd, element 46) and gold (Au, element 79) are compared here on price, density, hardness and jewellery purity, not as a ring-buying guide. Palladium carries CAS number 7440-05-3 and gold carries CAS number 7440-57-5, and the two metals sit at opposite ends of the precious metals market: one priced mainly on automotive demand, the other on investment and reserve demand. This page sets each metal's dated price, physical properties and purity standards side by side, then explains why palladium trades for a fraction of gold's price.
Palladium vs Gold: Price Today#
Gold traded far above palladium on 5-6 August 2026, at $4,261.77 per troy ounce against palladium's $1,354.00, on Trading Economics and Kitco spot respectively. That single snapshot is not a live quote, it is a dated historical point: gold's figure comes from Trading Economics' 6 August 2026 commodity data, and palladium's from Kitco's spot bid at 23:33 EST on 5 August 2026. Current, continuously updated prices for both metals live on their own dedicated pages, not on a comparison page.
Why does the gap run so wide? Gold trades as a monetary and reserve asset with a deep, liquid market, while palladium is priced almost entirely on one industrial use. Live and historical prices for palladium price today track this gap in real time, alongside the palladium price chart for the full trading history.
Palladium and Gold All-Time Highs#
Palladium's all-time high is $3,440.76 per troy ounce, set on 7 March 2022; gold's all-time high is $5,608.35, set in January 2026 (Trading Economics). Palladium reached its record as sanctions fears over Russian supply peaked following the invasion of Ukraine, and the same series puts its all-time low at $78 per troy ounce. Gold's record came four years later, in the same month platinum set its own all-time high, as broad precious-metals buying lifted every metal in the complex.
| Metal | All-time high (USD/oz) | Date | Series and source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palladium | 3,440.76 | 7 March 2022 | Trading Economics |
| Gold | 5,608.35 | January 2026 | Trading Economics |
| Palladium (all-time low, since 1984) | 78.00 | n/a | Trading Economics |
Two records set nearly four years apart, on the same series.
Neither record fell on the same date, and neither record moved the other: gold's January 2026 peak came while palladium traded near $2,100, less than two-thirds of its own 2022 high. The palladium price history page tracks palladium's annual highs and lows across the full series.
Is Palladium More Expensive Than Gold?#
Gold is currently the more expensive metal by a wide margin: at the dated 5-6 August 2026 snapshot, gold cost more than three times as much per troy ounce as palladium. Palladium has not traded above gold at any point in DailyPlatinum's sourced price series, and no crossover date is established in this knowledge base, so none is stated here. The gap is a function of demand structure rather than scarcity: palladium's own all-time high, reached in 2022, still sat well below gold's price at the time.
Palladium vs Gold: Density, Hardness and Melting Point#
Gold is 61% denser than palladium (19.283 g/cm3 against 12.007 g/cm3) and melts at a lower temperature (1,064.18°C against palladium's 1,554.9°C), while palladium is the harder of the two (Mohs 4.75 against gold's 2.5). Palladium's density, 12.007 g/cm3 at 20°C, is 62.3% of gold's 19.283 g/cm3, a difference heavy enough that a palladium ring of identical dimensions to a gold one feels noticeably lighter in the hand. The two metals also diverge magnetically: palladium is paramagnetic, with a susceptibility of +567.4 x10-6 cm3/mol, the largest of any platinum group metal, while gold is diamagnetic at -28.0 x10-6 cm3/mol.
| Property | Palladium (Pd) | Gold (Au) |
|---|---|---|
| Density (20°C) | 12.007 g/cm3 | 19.283 g/cm3 |
| Melting point | 1,554.9°C (1,828.05 K) | 1,064.18°C (1,337.33 K, ITS-90 fixed point) |
| Boiling point | 2,963°C (3,236 K) | 2,970°C (3,243 K) |
| Mohs hardness | 4.75 | 2.5 |
| Vickers hardness | 400-600 MPa | 188-216 MPa |
| Magnetic behavior | Paramagnetic, +567.4 x10-6 cm3/mol | Diamagnetic, -28.0 x10-6 cm3/mol |
Gold's 1,064.18°C melting point is not an arbitrary measurement: it is one of the defining fixed points of the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90), used to calibrate other thermometers. Palladium's melting point carries no such defining role. The two elements' boiling points, by contrast, sit within 7°C of each other, an unusual near-tie for metals whose melting points differ by nearly 500°C. Palladium's own physical properties, including its density and melting point in full, are covered on palladium (Pd), element 46, with dedicated pages for palladium density and palladium melting point.
Palladium vs Gold: Purity, Hallmarking and White Gold Alloys#
Palladium's main jewellery role is as a white-gold alloying metal, used since 1939 because it whitens gold without the nickel allergy risk and, unlike some other white-gold alloys, needs no rhodium replating. Palladium white gold sits alongside nickel white gold as one of two common families: nickel white gold is harder and cheaper but carries an allergy risk for a meaningful share of wearers, while palladium white gold is softer, more expensive and non-allergenic. As a standalone metal, palladium is also hallmarked in its own right in jurisdictions that regulate it.
In the United Kingdom, the Hallmarking Act 1973 sets legal fineness standards and exemption weights for both metals under a single compulsory regime.
| Jurisdiction | Palladium fineness standards | Gold fineness standards | Exemption weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK (Hallmarking Act 1973) | 500, 950, 999 | 375, 585, 750, 916.6, 990, 999 | Palladium 1.0 g; Gold 1.0 g |
Source: Hallmarking Act 1973, Schedule 2 Part 1 (fineness standards) and Schedule 1 Part II (exemption weights).
Palladium hallmarking in the UK became voluntary in July 2009 and compulsory from 1 January 2010 for articles over 1 gram, decades after gold's own hallmarking requirement. Below the 1.0 gram exemption weight, neither metal requires a UK hallmark at all, so the two share an identical threshold despite palladium's much shorter regulatory history.
Why Is Palladium Cheaper Than Gold?#
Palladium is priced as an industrial metal and gold as a monetary one: more than 80% of palladium demand goes to automotive catalysts (Johnson Matthey, May 2026), while gold trades primarily on investment and reserve demand, which is also why palladium's bid-ask spread is wider than gold's. A car buyer never chooses a vehicle for its catalytic converter, so palladium demand rises and falls with vehicle production cycles rather than with investor sentiment. Gold demand, by contrast, is driven by central bank reserves, jewellery and investment flows that do not depend on any single industry's output.
That demand split also shows up in trading costs: precious metals bid-ask spreads widen in the order gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium, meaning a palladium seller gives up more of the metal's value to the spread than a gold seller does on the same trade. A metal's liquidity, not only its industrial exposure, sets how efficiently it can be bought and sold. The palladium market tracks supply, demand and balance for the metal in full.
Palladium and Gold: Supply and Production#
Palladium supply is far more geographically concentrated than gold's: Norilsk Nickel alone produced 2.73 million ounces of palladium in 2025, against USGS's estimated 190,000 kg (about 6.11 million ounces) of total world mine production. That single Russian producer therefore accounted for roughly 45% of the estimated global total in 2025, a concentration with no equivalent among gold's much larger and more geographically dispersed set of producing countries. USGS's own world total for palladium does not equal the sum of its individual country figures, which add to 194,100 kg (6,241 koz); DailyPlatinum states both figures rather than picking one.
Norilsk Nickel's 2025 output was down 1% from 2024, and the company has guided 2026 palladium production toward 2.42 to 2.47 million ounces, a further 10 to 11% decline it describes as the lowest total since at least 2005. A supply base this concentrated in one country and one company leaves palladium's price more exposed to a single operator's output decisions than gold's price ever is. The palladium market covers the wider supply and demand balance behind that concentration.
Other Platinum Group Metal Comparisons and Prices#
Live prices and further comparisons for the six platinum group metals sit on their own pages. Platinum, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium each carry a dedicated live price page, and palladium's own comparison against platinum is covered separately from this gold comparison.
- Palladium price today: live spot price per ounce, gram and kilogram.
- Palladium price chart: live and historical prices in one chart.
- Investing in palladium: bars, coins and ETFs compared.
- Palladium ETFs: physically backed palladium funds.
- Scrap palladium price: how palladium scrap is valued.
Is palladium a better investment than gold?#
Neither metal is simply the better investment: gold is denser, has a far longer monetary track record and a tighter bid-ask spread, while palladium is harder, cheaper per ounce and more exposed to automotive demand cycles. DailyPlatinum gives no investment advice; the routes and costs of investing in palladium are compared separately.
How much is 1 gram of palladium?#
At the 5-6 August 2026 Kitco spot price of $1,354.00 per troy ounce, one gram of palladium was worth about $43.53 (31.1034768 g per troy ounce). That is a dated historical calculation, not a live value; current palladium prices per gram and other weights are on palladium price today.
Why is palladium so cheap now?#
Palladium is cheap relative to its 2022 peak because automotive demand, which still takes more than 80% of the metal, has softened while supply from Russia's Norilsk Nickel remains large. The same dynamic that lifted palladium to its March 2022 record, tight supply against strong demand, has partly reversed as vehicle production growth has slowed.
Who is the biggest buyer of palladium?#
The automotive sector, not investors, is palladium's largest buyer: Johnson Matthey states that the auto sector accounts for more than 80% of palladium demand (PGM Market Report, May 2026). Catalytic converters that clean gasoline engine exhaust remain the metal's dominant end use worldwide.
What are the disadvantages of palladium compared with gold?#
Palladium's two market disadvantages against gold are a wider bid-ask spread, since gold trades tighter than platinum, palladium and rhodium in that order, and a more concentrated supply base, with Russia's Norilsk Nickel alone producing 2.73 million ounces in 2025. Both disadvantages trace back to the same root cause: palladium's market is smaller, less liquid and more dependent on a single industry and a single major producer than gold's.