Precious Metal Price Forecasts 2026: Gold, Silver Platinum and Palladium

BullionVault says its December 2025 survey of 1,532 precious-metals investors points to a bullish 2026 gold outlook, with respondents expecting gold to end 2026 above $5,000/oz and projecting an average of $5,136/oz in December 2026. The survey frames geopolitics as the dominant swing factor for 2026 pricing. On drivers, 27% of respondents cited geopolitics (Middle East conflict, Russia/Ukraine, US–China tensions) as the biggest influence on gold through end-2026, followed by government spending (19.8%) and monetary policy (19.4%). The piece also notes BullionVault’s prior survey in Dec-2024 (with gold cited at $2,644/oz) had respondents looking for $3,070/oz twelve months later, contrasting that with an asserted Dec-2025 average gold price of $4,301/oz. Desk takeaways: the key signal here is retail/investor sentiment skewed heavily to upside tail outcomes (>$5,000/oz) with catalysts framed around geopolitical risk and policy/fiscal dominance. Near-term, BullionVault expects the LBMA’s year-end forecast poll (25+ professional analysts) to be published in Q1 2026, which could provide a more institutionally anchored benchmark and potential sentiment reset versus this investor survey.