The mithqal in the Iraqi gold market is 5 grams
Iraqi jewellers buy and sell gold by the mithqal, and the mithqal in this market weighs 5 grams. Half a mithqal is 2.5 grams, two mithqals are 10 grams and 10 mithqals are 50 grams.
Some websites use a mithqal of less than 5 grams. A mithqal price they work out from the world price then comes out lower than the market price, and a gram price they work out from a mithqal price comes out higher than it really is. Always compare with the wholesale price quoted in Baghdad.
The difference between Gulf and Iraqi gold
Baghdad’s wholesale market on Al-Nahr Street quotes 21k in two grades, “Gulf, Turkish and European” and “Iraqi”, each with a selling and a buying price. Both grades are the same 21 karats.
Today Gulf-grade gold is IQD 974,000 sell and IQD 970,000 buy, and Iraqi-grade gold IQD 944,000 sell and IQD 940,000 buy, so Iraqi gold is IQD 30,000 a mithqal cheaper.
No official explanation for the price gap between the two grades has been published. What matters to a buyer is knowing the grade before paying, because the buying price when you sell also differs between the two.
Today shops price Gulf-grade 21k between IQD 975,000 and 985,000 a mithqal, and Iraqi-grade between IQD 945,000 and 955,000.
How to work out the price of a piece by the mithqal
Final price = (weight in grams ÷ 5) × the mithqal price + the making charge. Iraq has no VAT on gold.
Example: a 10-gram piece of 21k is two mithqals, and its gold is worth IQD 1,948,000 today at the Gulf-grade wholesale price, before the making charge. When you sell, the shop prices the same weight at its buying price, and the making charge usually does not come back.
The calculator on this page works in grams. Enter the weight of the piece in grams; if your making charge is quoted per mithqal, divide it by 5 before you enter it.
How gold prices are written in thousands in Iraq
Iraqi gold prices are written in thousands, so «974 ألفاً» (974 thousand) means IQD 974,000 a mithqal. Above one million they are written like «1.035 مليون» (1.035 million), which is IQD 1,035,000; the point separates the millions from the thousands.
A 21k mithqal passed one million dinars for the first time in January 2026; today it is below one million at IQD 974,000 for Gulf-grade gold on Baghdad’s wholesale market.