There are six main ways to buy gold in Singapore: investment bars and coins from a registered bullion dealer or bank, jewellery, a bank gold savings account, a gold ETF on SGX, or metal you buy and leave in a dealer’s vault. They differ most in what you pay to get in and out, what it costs each year and how easily you can sell.
Gold prices can fall as well as rise; past performance is not a guide; gold pays no interest. This guide explains how each route works and what it costs as at November 2026. It does not suggest buying gold or any gold product.
The Six Routes at a Glance
| Route | What you own | GST | Ongoing cost | How you sell |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bars and coins, kept at home | The metal itself | None if it qualifies as investment precious metal | Your own safe and insurance | Back to a dealer or bank, on its terms |
| Bars and coins, in a dealer’s vault | Allocated metal held for you | None on the metal; GST may apply to storage fees | About 0.16% to 0.39% a year for gold at the dealers below | Sell to the dealer, or withdraw for a fee |
| Jewellery | Metal plus workmanship | 9% | None | Usually valued on gold content only |
| UOB Gold Savings Account | A balance in grams with the bank | None on buying or selling | 0.25% a year plus GST | Back to UOB at its price |
| SPDR Gold Shares on SGX | Units in a US-domiciled gold trust | None on units; GST on broker fees | 0.40% a year expense ratio | On SGX through a broker |
| LionGlobal Singapore Physical Gold ETF | Units in a fund holding gold in Singapore | None on units; GST on broker fees | 0.39% a year management fee | On SGX through a broker |
The short version: decide first whether you want to hold metal or a claim on metal. Then compare the premium, the buy-back price and the yearly cost over the years you expect to hold, not just the price on the day.
How to Buy Gold in Singapore, Step by Step
- Choose metal or a claim on metal. Bars, coins and vaulted gold are metal you own; a gold account or an ETF is a claim you can sell but rarely hold.
- Pick the route from the table above, then the product: bars or coins, and a purity that qualifies for the GST exemption.
- Check the seller. A dealer should be on the Ministry of Law’s registered list; banks are exempt. Our checklist for choosing a gold dealer covers the rest.
- Compare same-day quotes for the buying and selling price of the same item, plus any storage or fund fee. Where to buy gold in Singapore compares the providers’ published fees.
- Pay through the seller’s own published channels and keep the invoice: UOB, for one, buys back only with a satisfactory invoice.
- Plan where the gold will live and how you will sell it before you pay; see how to sell gold in Singapore.
Buying Bars and Coins From a Dealer or Bank
Investment-grade bars and coins are exempt from GST if they meet IRAS rules: gold of at least 99.5% purity from a refiner on the LBMA Good Delivery list, or a coin on IRAS’s prescribed list. Our guide to GST on gold has the full criteria, and gold bars vs gold coins explains the trade-offs.
You pay a premium above the spot price, and the dealer buys back below it. The gold premiums explainer shows the maths, and the gold premium calculator works it out from real quotes.
Check the dealer is registered. Under the Precious Stones and Precious Metals (Prevention of Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing and Proliferation Financing) Act 2019, anyone in the business of selling precious metals must register with the Ministry of Law. Banks and other MAS-regulated firms are exempt. The list of registered dealers is a PDF, last updated 2 November 2026. BullionStar, Silver Bullion, GoldSilver Central and Indigo Precious Metals all appear on it. The ministry cancelled or suspended several dealers’ registrations in September 2026; see our report.
UOB sells bars online through Personal Internet Banking for collection at its Main Branch gold counter at UOB Plaza 1, by appointment. Its buy-back rules are strict: only coins and bars originally bought from UOB or OUB, with the invoice and an intact seal, and for gold bought from 1 March 2025, only UOB current or savings account holders can sell it back. Our UOB gold review covers the detail.
Storing Gold in a Dealer’s Vault
Several dealers will keep the metal you buy in a vault, allocated to you. Gold storage fees for small holdings, as at November 2026, from each dealer’s own page:
- BullionStar: 0.39% a year for gold, minimum S$0.19 a day; S$129 to withdraw.
- Silver Bullion: 0.35%, 0.30% or 0.25% a year for gold, depending on the holding; S$100 per parcel to withdraw.
- Indigo Precious Metals: from 0.37% a year for holdings under US$100,000, falling with size; no minimum.
- GoldSilver Central: its storage page shows two different gold rates, so check the current fee with the dealer.
Each says the stored metal is insured; read the terms for who owns the metal if the dealer fails. Our guide to storing gold safely compares vaults, safe deposit boxes and home storage, and the reviews of BullionStar, Silver Bullion, GoldSilver Central and Indigo Precious Metals go further.
Gold Savings Accounts and SGX Gold ETFs
UOB’s Gold Savings Account lets you buy gold in grams without taking delivery. The minimum purchase is 5 grams, there is no GST on buying or selling, and from 1 April 2026 the service charge is 0.25% a year on the highest monthly balance, plus GST. You can convert to 100g cast bars for S$100 per bar. The balance is not an insured deposit.
Gold ETFs trade on SGX like shares, so you need a brokerage account and pay commission. Two are listed:
- SPDR Gold Shares, counters O87 (US dollars) and GSD (Singapore dollars), expense ratio 0.40% a year.
- LionGlobal Singapore Physical Gold ETF, counters GLS (Singapore dollars) and GLU (US dollars), listed on 26 March 2026, with a management fee of 0.39% a year and gold vaulted in Singapore.
Our SPDR Gold Shares review and the ETF broker comparison cover the trading costs.
Jewellery, CPF and SRS
Jewellery is not investment precious metal, so GST applies, and the workmanship you pay for rarely comes back when you sell. See selling gold jewellery before you treat a bangle as savings.
CPF Ordinary Account savings can go into gold under the CPF Investment Scheme, up to 10% of investible savings: SPDR Gold Shares is the only gold ETF on CPF’s list, and other gold products go through UOB. Lion Global Investors says SRS money can be used for its gold ETF. Our guide to using CPF or SRS for gold has the rules.
Gold Guides on Dollar Interest
- Choosing what to buy: gold bars vs gold coins, gold purity and karats, GST on gold and gold premiums explained.
- Choosing who to buy from: where to buy gold in Singapore, how to choose a gold dealer and gold scams in Singapore.
- Holding it: gold storage in Singapore, the cost of holding gold, buying gold with CPF or SRS and our review of SPDR Gold Shares on SGX.
- Selling it: how to sell gold in Singapore.
- Gold as an asset: what moves the gold price, gold vs inflation, gold vs stocks vs bonds, gold in a retirement portfolio and, for the other precious metal, silver investing basics.
What To Do Next
- Decide what share of your savings you could see fall sharply without needing to sell. Our comparison of gold vs stocks vs bonds shows how gold’s past falls compare.
- Get the buying and selling price for the same item from two or three sellers on the same day.
- Check any dealer on the Ministry of Law’s registered list, and read its buy-back and storage terms before paying.
- Compare the providers on fees in where to buy gold in Singapore, and try the gold investment return calculator.
- Do your own due diligence. This is general information, not a recommendation.
