Base metals & ore · World Bank monthly average
What is the Copper price and how has it changed?
Copper averaged 14,474 US dollars per metric ton in September 2026, according to the World Bank Pink Sheet. That is 1.0% above Aug 2026 and 45.0% above Sept 2025, and in the top tenth of all monthly averages since January 2000.
- Sept 2026 average
- 14,474$/mt · US dollars per metric ton
- Month on month
- ▲ +1.0%from 14,326 in Aug 2026
- Year on year
- ▲ +45.0%from 9,984 in Sept 2025
- 12-month range
- 10,740–14,474low Oct 2025 · high Sept 2026
The last five years
What the record shows
- Over five years the price ranged from 7,545 (Jul 2022) to 14,474 (Sept 2026). Sept 2026 is the highest monthly average in that window.
- Since January 2000 the record high is 14,474 (Sept 2026) and the low 1,377 (Oct 2001). The latest month is higher than 100% of the 321 monthly averages in that span, in nominal dollars (not adjusted for inflation).
- The highest full-year average since 2000 was 2025 (9,947); the lowest was 2002 (1,560).
- Annualised volatility of monthly changes over the past five years was 16.2%, lower than the 21.1% for the whole record since 2000. Monthly averages smooth out intra-month swings, so daily markets move more than this.
- Five years earlier, in Sept 2021, the average was 9,325: the price is 55.2% above that level.
Yearly averages
| Year | Average | vs prior year | Highest month | Lowest month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 9 mo. | 13,431 | ▲ +35.0% | 14,474 Sep | 12,529 Mar |
| 2025 | 9,947 | ▲ +8.8% | 11,785 Dec | 8,991 Jan |
| 2024 | 9,142 | ▲ +7.7% | 10,139 May | 8,305 Feb |
| 2023 | 8,490 | ▼ −3.8% | 9,038 Jan | 7,937 Oct |
| 2022 | 8,822 | ▼ −5.3% | 10,231 Mar | 7,545 Jul |
| 2021 | 9,317 | ▲ +50.9% | 10,162 May | 7,972 Jan |
| 2020 | 6,174 | ▲ +2.7% | 7,772 Dec | 5,058 Apr |
| 2019 | 6,010 | ▼ −8.0% | 6,439 Mar | 5,709 Aug |
| 2018 | 6,530 | ▲ +5.8% | 7,066 Jan | 6,051 Aug |
| 2017 | 6,170 | ▲ +26.7% | 6,834 Dec | 5,600 May |
| 2016 | 4,868 | ▼ −11.7% | 5,660 Dec | 4,472 Jan |
| 2015 | 5,511 | ▼ −19.7% | 6,295 May | 4,639 Dec |
| 2014 | 6,863 | ▼ −6.4% | 7,291 Jan | 6,446 Dec |
| 2013 | 7,332 | ▼ −7.9% | 8,061 Feb | 6,907 Jul |
| 2012 | 7,962 | ▼ −9.8% | 8,471 Mar | 7,423 Jun |
| 2011 | 8,828 | ▲ +17.2% | 9,868 Feb | 7,394 Oct |
| 2010 | 7,535 | ▲ +46.3% | 9,147 Dec | 6,499 Jun |
| 2009 | 5,150 | ▼ −26.0% | 6,982 Dec | 3,221 Jan |
| 2008 | 6,956 | ▼ −2.3% | 8,685 Apr | 3,072 Dec |
| 2007 | 7,118 | ▲ +5.9% | 8,008 Oct | 5,670 Jan |
| 2006 | 6,722 | ▲ +82.7% | 8,046 May | 4,734 Jan |
Since January 2000
Largest one-month moves since 2000
| Month | From | To | Move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2008 | 6,991 | 4,926 | ▼ −29.5% |
| May 2006 | 6,388 | 8,046 | ▲ +26.0% |
| Apr 2006 | 5,103 | 6,388 | ▲ +25.2% |
| Nov 2008 | 4,926 | 3,717 | ▼ −24.5% |
| Apr 2007 | 6,452 | 7,766 | ▲ +20.4% |
What exactly is being priced?
Copper (LME), grade A, minimum 99.9935% purity, cathodes and wire bar shapes, settlement price. The World Bank publishes the series as a monthly average in US dollars per metric ton ($/mt). Benchmark definitions occasionally change, as noted above, so very long comparisons mix slightly different contracts. See commodity price units explained for converting units.
Sources
- World Bank Commodity Price Data (The Pink Sheet), monthly prices workbook (updated October 02, 2026; retrieved 16 Oct 2026). Licensed CC BY 4.0.
- Method for changes, ranges and volatility: methodology.