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Interest in gold has skyrocketed in recent weeks, with the price of one ounce hitting an all time high of $5,600 on January 29 before settling back to just under $5,000 on Sunday.

As economic conditions fluctuate and geopolitical tensions rise, more individuals are seeking gold as a secure investment.

In this visual explainer, Al Jazeera breaks down how gold value is determined, the prices of gold coins in different markets, and the countries holding the largest reserves.

How is the value of gold measured?

Understanding the value of a gold item requires knowing its weight in troy ounces alongside its purity in karats.

Weight (in troy ounces)

The weight of gold and other precious metals like silver and platinum is commonly measured in troy ounces (oz t). One troy ounce is equal to 31.1035 grammes.

At $5,000 per troy ounce, 1 gramme of gold is worth about $160, and a standard 400-troy-ounce (12.44kg) gold bar costs $2m.

Troy ounces are different from regular ounces, which weigh 28.35 grammes and are used to measure everyday items including foods.

Purity (in karats)

Karat or carat (abbreviated as “K” or “ct”) measures the purity of a gold item. Pure gold is 24 karats, while lower karats such as 22, 18, and 9 indicate that the gold is mixed with less expensive metals like silver, copper, or zinc.

To determine the purity of gold, jewellers are required to stamp a number onto the item, such as 24K or a numeric value like 999, which indicates it is 99.9 percent pure. For example, 18K gold will typically have a stamp of 750, signifying that it is 75 percent pure.

Some typical values include:

• 24 karat – 99.9% purity – A deep orange colour, is very soft, never tarnishes and is most commonly used for investment coins or bars
• 22 karat  – 91.6% purity – A rich orange colour, moderate durability, resists tarnishing and most often used for luxury jewellery
• 18 karat – 75% purity – A warm yellow colour, high durability, will have some dulling over time and most often used in fine jewellery
• 9 karat – 37.5% purity – A pale yellow colour, has the highest durability, dulls over time, used in affordable jewellery

Other karat amounts such as 14k (58.3% purity) and 10k (41.7% purity) are often sold in different markets around the world.

When you buy jewellery, the price usually depends on the day’s gold spot price, how much it costs to make, and any taxes.

If you know the item’s exact weight in grammes and the gold’s purity in karats, you can calculate the craftsmanship cost on top of that.

You typically cannot negotiate the spot gold price, but you can often haggle over the craftsmanship costs.

The price of gold has quadrupled over the past 10 years

Gold has been valued for thousands of years, serving various functions, from currency to jewellery. The precious metal is widely regarded as a safe haven asset, particularly in times of economic uncertainty or market volatility.

Up until 1971, the United States dollar was physically defined by a specific weight of gold. Under the classical gold standard, for nearly a century, from 1834 until 1933, you could walk into a bank and exchange $20 for an ounce of gold.

In 1933, amid the Great Depression, the price was raised to $35 per ounce to stimulate the economy.

In 1971, under President Richard Nixon, gold was decoupled from the dollar, and its price began to be determined by market forces.

Over the past 10 years, the price of gold has quadrupled from $1,250 in 2016 to around $5,000 today.

How is the price of gold determined in different countries?

Gold is priced globally based on the spot market, where one troy ounce is traded in US dollars on exchanges such as London and New York. Local prices vary as the dollar rate is converted into domestic currencies, and dealers add premiums for minting, distribution and demand.

Taxes and import duties further influence the final cost: India adds 3 percent GST, while the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates impose none on gold investments.

Different countries produce unique gold bullion coins and bars, each with its own distinct features and cultural significance. Notable examples include the Gold Eagle from the US, the Gold Panda from China, and the Krugerrand from South Africa.

Which countries have the most gold reserves?

The US leads global gold reserves with 8,133 tonnes, nearly equal to the combined total of the next three countries. Germany is in second place with 3,350 tonnes, and Italy comes in third with 2,451 tonnes.

The graphic below shows the top 10 countries with the largest gold reserves.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month, Jared Kushner, billionaire real estate scion and son-in-law to United States President Donald Trump, presented his vision of a “New Gaza”: glittering skyscrapers, waterfront tourism and a logistical corridor connecting a demilitarised enclave to the world.

But 3,000km (1,864 miles) away, on the bombed and dusty lands of the Gaza Strip, not a single brick has been laid as the distressing reality of the Palestinian territory is now measured not in new buildings but in tonnes of debris – specifically, 61 million tonnes of it.

After a fragile “ceasefire” was reached between Israel and Hamas in October, Israel’s air strikes may have let up, but the killings have not stopped, signalling a new, quieter war.

Meanwhile, there is no clarity on the potential entry of cement and steel rods – crucial construction materials whose entry Israel has blocked.

According to the United Nations, 92 percent of Gaza has been  destroyed during Israel’s more than two-year genocidal war, and the cost of its rebuilding is estimated at $70bn.

Yet analysts and urban planners warned that Gaza’s reconstruction is being designed not to restore Palestinian life but to “re-engineer” it – turning the basic human right of shelter into a tool of political extortion and alleged demographic change.

“Reconstruction is not the ‘day after’ the war; it is the continuation of war by bureaucratic and economic means,” Ihab Jabareen, a researcher specialising in Israeli affairs, told Al Jazeera.

‘Cement faucet’

Jabareen argued that for the Israeli security establishment, reconstruction is the ultimate bargaining chip, allowing Israel to move from a strategy of direct military occupation to one of “sovereignty by flow”.

“Whoever owns the oxygen of Gaza – the cement faucet – owns its political and security shape,” he said, adding that Israel aims to create a unique system of “control without responsibility” in which it holds veto power over how daily life in Gaza is conducted without the legal obligations of an occupier.

This system relies on turning the potential entry of construction materials and aid into a political decision through what Jabareen called three layers of extortion:

• Security extortion: linking the flow of materials to “long-term surveillance”, creating a permanent dependency under which Gaza is rebuilt to a size that can be easily “switched off” at any moment.
• Political extortion: using reconstruction to determine who governs. “Whoever distributes the cement, distributes the legitimacy,” Jabareen said, suggesting that Israel will allow reconstruction only under a “technocratic” proxy administration that fits its security needs.
• Pacification extortion: turning the hope of basic survival – a roof over one’s head – into a “reward” for silence, rather than a right.

‘Phoenix Plan’

Before these political battles can even be fought, Gaza literally remains buried under the rubble of two years of Israeli bombardments. A United Nations Development Programme report released in November painted a grim picture: The debris generated by the war creates an “unprecedented obstacle” that could take seven years to clear – and that is only under “ideal conditions”.

“Gaza stands as one of the most devastated places on earth,” the report said.

Faced with this reality, Palestinian experts rejected the top-down models for reconstruction proposed in Davos. Abdel Rahman Kitana, professor of architecture at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank, pointed to the “Phoenix Plan”, a framework developed by the Union of Gaza Strip Municipalities, as a viable local alternative.

“Reconstruction is not just about restoring what was destroyed. It is about reshaping life,” Kitana told Al Jazeera Arabic as he warned against disconnected solutions for Gaza. He instead advocated for an “integrated approach” rooted in the Phoenix Plan, under which rubble is not treated as waste but as a resource that could be recycled for land reclamation.

Kitana insisted that any successful plan for Gaza’s reconstruction must be bottom-up. “We cannot succeed without the people themselves. … They know their needs and their dreams,” he said, warning that ignoring local agencies will lead to a “fragile, alienating environment”.

Israel’s ‘dual use’ rule

However, both the UN’s seven-year reconstruction timeline and the “Phoenix Plan” face a critical hurdle: Israel’s “dual use” list.

Historically, Israel has banned items such as fertilisers and steel pipes under the pretext that they could be used for military purposes. Today, that list has expanded to include more essential items, including oxygen cylinders, cancer medicines and water filters.

Jabareen says the blockade is no longer a pretext for security but a “philosophy of governance”.

“Israel has turned the ‘dual use’ excuse into a mechanism of indefinite delay,” he said.

By requiring project-by-project approval for every sack of cement, Israel ensures that reconstruction remains a perpetual “project” that keeps donor countries and agencies exhausted and the Palestinian administration in “a state of constant begging”, Jabareen said.

‘Silent demographic engineering’

While Israel blocks key materials on the ground, the Trump administration is creating a “political fantasy” abroad, experts said. Gaza’s Board of Peace, pushed by Trump, promises a $10bn gross domestic product boost to Gaza and a “New Rafah” with 100,000 housing units.

Jabareen viewed the plans, which include “waterfront properties” and “industrial zones”, as a form of “silent demographic engineering”.

“They are trying to shift the Palestinian cause from a national rights issue to a real estate problem,” he said. The goal, he argues, is to design a Gaza that is “economically useful” to the region but “nationally hollowed out”.

By focusing on “investments” and “tourism” while ignoring the rubble and the mass graves, the plan seeks to “legitimise a political fantasy”, Jabareen said. “If you can’t displace the Palestinian by force, you displace his idea of home by re-engineering his space.”

So who will eventually build this “New Gaza”? Jabareen warned of a “privatisation of occupation” even if Israeli companies do not enter Gaza directly.

“Reconstruction is a chain of indirect profits,” he noted, adding that the logistics of inspection, the security firms managing the crossings and the insurance companies covering the risks will all generate revenue for Israeli or allied firms.

The contracts for reconstruction themselves become a political filter. “This creates an international ‘market of obedience’,” Jabareen said. “The donor who objects is excluded, and the contractor who asks questions on sovereignty is replaced.”

‘Silent transfer’

Jabareen said the most dangerous aspect of such a policy is the “weaponisation of time itself”.

With UN assessments indicating that removing debris alone could last until 2032 and a full reconstruction of Gaza stretching to 2040, the “wait” becomes a policy of displacement.

“Time decomposes societies,” Jabareen said.

He said Israel is betting on “rational emigration” – after living for years in tents, Palestinians will leave, not because they were forced by tanks, but because they were exhausted by fears over their future.

“The long wait is not condemned by the international community. Israel realises that bombing brings condemnation, but bureaucratic delay brings only silence,” Jabareen said. “If the fighter jets failed to displace them, the waiting might succeed.”

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