Gold outperforms stocks in both developed and emerging markets since 2000: Report

Gold vs equity

• Gold outperformed equities in most markets since 1999, DSP Netra report finds
• Gold beat stocks 23 percent of the time in India, less than in developed markets
• Multi-asset strategies achieved optimal results with reduced market volatility

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Across developed and emerging markets, gold has outperformed equities in local currency terms in the 21st century, including India, the US, Japan, and Europe, highlights the DSP Netra report.

“Gold has beaten every major equity market over the 21st Century. There’s a start and end point bias, but living through this era with zero gold allocation would’ve been a real-world mistake,” stated the report.

The report, citing indices portfolio data from December 1999 to 2025 from Bloomberg, highlights that in the developed markets, gold’s excess returns over the equity market in Japan was 7.6 percent, followed by the UK (7.1 percent), France (6.3 percent), the US (3.0 percent), Canada (2.8 percent), and Australia (1.3 percent).

Across emerging markets over 25 years, gold’s excess return over equities was highest in Turkey at 10.6 percent, while India recorded a much lower differential of just 1.0 percent. Other countries where gold outpaced equities include Argentina (7.5 percent), Brazil (6.9 percent), Malaysia (6.4 percent), Poland (5.0 percent), South Korea and Chile (4.5 percent each), Mexico (2.9 percent), Hungary (2.1 percent), South Africa (1.2 percent), and India (1.0 percent).

Meanwhile, the returns from gold as compared with the index over the past 20 years ranged from 15 percent in India, 13 percent in the UK and Japan, and 11 percent in the US and China, the data revealed.

India (NSE 500): 24 percent of stocks beat gold.

China (CSI 300): 29 percent outperformed gold.

US (S&P 500): Just 5 percent of stocks exceeded gold’s returns.

Japan (Nikkei 225): Only 2 percent outperformed.

UK (FTSE 100): A mere 1 percent beat gold.

Five-year rolling data shows limited gold outperformance

The five-year rolling return data shows that gold does not outperform equities consistently across markets. Gold beat stocks 23 percent of the time in India, which is far less than in developed markets-50 percent of the time in Europe, 36 percent in the US, and 38 percent in China.

Equity vs. gold vs. real estate: The reality is mixed

The report studied the 20-year compound annual growth (CAGR) for different asset classes across countries, and also included inflation and risk measures.

Across high inflation countries, like India (6.5 percent) and Pakistan (10.2 percent), the returns from gold have outperformed all other asset classes, which proves gold as a perfect investment instrument against inflation.

Nonetheless, across all these markets, the multi-asset strategy has consistently delivered optimal results. Except for the US, multi-asset has outperformed domestic equities in local currency terms across all these markets.

“Equity investors believe stocks are the best investments. Those who have made money in gold or real estate only focus on their wins. The reality is mixed.

“The multi-asset strategy has been successful across various markets, with the possibility of delivering equity-like returns but with lower volatility. A key point to note is the difference in standard deviation. Typically, a poor performance in one asset class is balanced by stronger results in another, reducing the overall risk,”  the report stated.