Reviewed by 
Zakat on gold is 2.5% of the market value of the pure gold you own, payable once you have held at least 87.48 g of pure gold (7.5 tola) for a full lunar year. Because jewellery is rarely pure, you first convert its weight to pure gold using the karat: 95.43 g of 22k or 116.64 g of 18k jewellery reaches the nisab.
This guide explains each step, gives a karat table you can use straight away, and works through two examples with the same rules as our zakat calculator.
The rule in three parts
- The nisab. Zakat on gold applies only when you own at least 20 mithqal of gold, the threshold reported in Sunan Abi Dawud. Our calculator converts this as 7.5 tola = 87.48 g of pure gold. The silver nisab is 52.5 tola = 612.36 g.
- The year. The gold must stay at or above the nisab for one lunar year (hawl), about eleven days shorter than a calendar year. Many people fix a date in the Hijri calendar, often in Ramadan, and count their wealth on that day.
- The rate. Zakat is 2.5% – one fortieth – of the gold’s value on your zakat date. Equivalently, you can give one fortieth of the gold itself.
Gold you hold as savings or investment – coins, bars, biscuits – is zakatable in every school of thought. Jewellery worn for personal use is where opinions differ; see the section below before you start adding things up.
Step 1: convert jewellery to pure gold
The karat tells you how much of an item is gold: 24 karat is pure, so an item of k karat contains k/24 of its weight in gold. The nisab is a weight of pure gold, so the test is:
Pure gold (g) = Jewellery weight (g) × Karat ÷ 24
Weigh only the metal. Stones, pearls, enamel and non-gold clasps are not gold and should not be counted. If an item is hallmarked 916, 875 or 750, those are parts per thousand: 916 is 22k, 875 is 21k and 750 is 18k.
The table turns the nisab into the weight of jewellery you need at each karat, and shows the zakat on every 100 g of jewellery, expressed in grams of pure gold.
| Karat | Gold content | Jewellery weight that reaches the nisab | Same weight in tola | Zakat on 100 g of jewellery (pure gold) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24k | 100% | 87.48 g | 7.5 | 2.5 g |
| 22k | 91.67% | 95.43 g | 8.18 | 2.29 g |
| 21k | 87.5% | 99.98 g | 8.57 | 2.19 g |
| 18k | 75% | 116.64 g | 10 | 1.88 g |
| 14k | 58.33% | 149.97 g | 12.86 | 1.46 g |
Read across the 21k row: 99.98 g of 21k jewellery – almost exactly 100 g – is the nisab. Lower-karat gold needs more weight to reach it, because each gram contains less gold.
Step 2: value the gold and take 2.5%
Once you know the pure-gold weight, multiply it by today’s price of one gram of 24k gold in your currency, then by 2.5%. Use the market price on your zakat date, not what you paid and not the shop price with making charges. A jeweller’s buy-back price is close to the right figure; the spot price is what our calculator fills in live.
A shortcut: 2.5% of the pure gold is the same as 2.5% of the jewellery weight at its own karat. So the zakat on 80 g of 22k gold is the value of 2 g of 22k gold.
Worked example 1: a 22k set of 120 g
A woman owns 120 g of 22k jewellery, weighed without stones, and has held it all year. She follows the view that jewellery is zakatable.
- Pure gold: 120 × 22 ÷ 24 = 110 g.
- Nisab test: 110 g is above 87.48 g, so zakat is due.
- Zakat: 110 g × 2.5% = 2.75 g of pure gold – the same as 3 g of 22k.
- In money: 2.75 × today’s price per gram of 24k gold.
In the zakat calculator, multiply 110 g by the live 24k price per gram it shows for your currency and enter that amount as the value of gold; the result applies the same 2.5%.
Worked example 2: mixed karats below the nisab
Someone else has 40 g of 21k and 30 g of 18k – 70 g in total, which looks comfortably above 87.48 g.
- 21k: 40 × 21 ÷ 24 = 35 g of pure gold.
- 18k: 30 × 18 ÷ 24 = 22.5 g of pure gold.
- Total pure gold: 57.5 g, which is 29.98 g short of the nisab.
On the gold alone, zakat is not due. Convert each karat separately and add the pure weights – averaging the karats or using the gross weight gives the wrong answer. If this person also has cash or other savings, many scholars add the gold’s value to them and compare the total with the nisab; with the silver basis, which is far lower, zakat will often be due on the combined amount. The calculator lets you choose either basis.
Worn jewellery: the difference of opinion
The Hanafi school treats gold and silver as zakatable whatever their form, so jewellery you wear is counted like coins. The Maliki, Shafi‘i and Hanbali schools generally exempt permissible jewellery kept for personal wear, but not gold bought as savings or investment, even if it is shaped as jewellery. Both views have long scholarly support. Choose the one you follow – or that your local scholar or zakat body follows – and apply it consistently every year.
Common mistakes
- Testing the gross jewellery weight against 87.48 g instead of the pure-gold weight.
- Counting stones, or using the purchase receipt, which includes making charges.
- Mixing thresholds: some lists use 85 g; ours uses 87.48 g. Pick one figure and keep it.
- Paying once and stopping. Zakat is due again every lunar year for as long as your gold stays at or above the nisab.
- Using a calendar year instead of the lunar year. Our Hijri date converter finds your zakat date, and the currency converter helps if your gold price is quoted in another currency.
How we calculated this
The nisab weights (87.48 g of gold and 612.36 g of silver, 7.5 and 52.5 tola of 11.664 g) and the 2.5% rate are the zakat calculator’s own values. Both examples were run through the calculator with a price of 1 per gram, so every result is a weight of pure gold and holds at any gold price. Figures are rounded to 0.01 g.
General information, not a religious ruling (fatwa), not legal advice or tax advice. Please confirm your zakat with a qualified scholar.