Indian households overestimate wealth from gold jewelry: Study

India Dec 08, 2025

Turns out, gold jewelry isn't the investment win many Indian families think it is.
A new Kotak report found that returns on gold jewelry since 2011 are just 10.3%—lower than the 12.5% you'd get from plain gold (bullion).
The catch? Making charges and non-gold extras mean only about two-thirds of what you pay is actually for the gold itself.

Why does this matter?

Most of India's $3.8 trillion household gold stash is in jewelry, mainly owned by families earning under ₹5 lakh a year.
That means a lot of people are overpaying for something they see as security or future wedding funds, but it may not really grow their money.
The report suggests: if you want your savings to work harder, consider gold ETFs or bullion instead of retail jewelry.