Global Silver Market & Trade Data — Public Sources Reference
Six public-source datasets on the global silver market: spot price history, production by country, end-use demand, supply-demand balance, per-capita jewelry spending, and major trade flows. CSV download for each. Sources: USGS, Silver Institute World Silver Survey, LBMA, UN Comtrade, Statista. No proprietary data — safe for editorial citation and academic course materials.
1. LBMA silver spot price — year-end USD per troy ounce
| Year | USD / troy oz (year-end) | Annual change |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | $19.08 | — |
| 2015 | $13.82 | -27.6% |
| 2016 | $16.24 | +17.5% |
| 2017 | $16.87 | +3.9% |
| 2018 | $15.47 | -8.3% |
| 2019 | $18.04 | +16.6% |
| 2020 | $26.41 | +46.4% |
| 2021 | $23.35 | -11.6% |
| 2022 | $23.96 | +2.6% |
| 2023 | $23.79 | -0.7% |
| 2024 | $28.97 | +21.8% |
London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), Silver Price benchmark, year-end fix.
2. Top silver-producing countries (2024)
| # | Country | Production | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico | 6,300 t | World's #1 silver producer since 1546; Fresnillo PLC largest single producer. |
| 2 | China | 3,400 t | Mostly by-product of lead-zinc and gold mining. |
| 3 | Peru | 3,100 t | Cerro Verde, Antamina, Yanacocha — large polymetallic operations. |
| 4 | Chile | 1,300 t | Significant by-product silver from copper ore (Escondida, Collahuasi). |
| 5 | Australia | 1,300 t | BHP Cannington (Queensland) historically among world's top single mines. |
| 6 | Russia | 1,200 t | Polymetal International — Mayskoye, Dukat, Albazino. |
| 7 | Poland | 1,280 t | KGHM Polska Miedź — silver from copper deposits, ~1,250 t/yr. |
| 8 | Bolivia | 1,200 t | San Cristóbal mine; long history since Potosí (1545). |
| 9 | Argentina | 880 t | Cerro Vanguardia and Pirquitas operations. |
| 10 | United States | 1,000 t | Hecla, Coeur Mining; Idaho Silver Valley, Alaska Greens Creek. |
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024 (silver chapter). Production figures are mine-output estimates in metric tons of contained silver.
3. End-use demand by sector (2024)
| Sector | Volume | Share | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial fabrication (incl. PV) | 654.4 Moz | 53.6% | Largest sector. Solar PV alone uses ~232 Moz/yr (~19% of total demand) — c-Si front contacts. |
| Jewelry | 234.1 Moz | 19.2% | India accounts for ~30% of global silver jewelry consumption. |
| Coins & bars (investment) | 212.0 Moz | 17.4% | Heavily affected by retail investor sentiment; can swing 30%/yr. |
| Silverware | 55.1 Moz | 4.5% | Concentrated in India and the Middle East; mostly secondary/cultural demand. |
| Photography (film, X-ray) | 27.5 Moz | 2.3% | Down from ~7,000 t (~225 Moz) in 2000; collapse from digital. |
| Other (electronics, brazing, etc) | 37.0 Moz | 3.0% | Catalysts, brazing alloys, antimicrobial coatings — fragmented. |
Silver Institute, World Silver Survey 2024 (Metals Focus / Refinitiv). Industrial fabrication includes electronics, brazing, photovoltaics, ethylene oxide catalysts.
4. Supply-demand balance (Moz)
| Year | Supply (Moz) | Demand (Moz) | Balance (Moz) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 836.5 | 992.9 | -156.4 |
| 2020 | 784.4 | 893.0 | -108.6 |
| 2021 | 828.6 | 1108.3 | -279.7 |
| 2022 | 825.8 | 1142.4 | -316.6 |
| 2023 | 830.5 | 1179.5 | -349.0 |
| 2024 | 843.2 | 1219.3 | -376.1 |
Silver Institute, World Silver Survey 2024. Negative balance = market deficit; deficit since 2021 has been a primary driver of price floor support. 2024 figure is preliminary.
5. Per-capita jewelry spending (USD, 2023)
| Country | USD per capita (jewelry total) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $110 | ~$36B total US jewelry market; silver is ~$5B subset, growing 4-6%/yr. |
| China | $85 | Silver demand recovering post-COVID; investment + youth jewelry. |
| Italy | $76 | Major silver manufacturing hub (Vicenza, Arezzo); domestic demand strong. |
| India | $72 | Highest cultural-jewelry intensity globally; silver share rising. |
| Japan | $60 | Mature market; small-format silver jewelry dominant. |
| United Kingdom | $58 | Silver share of jewelry growing as gold prices rise. |
| Germany | $52 | Established market; per-capita stable. |
| South Korea | $48 | K-pop influence on silver-piece demand 2018+. |
| France | $45 | Mature high-jewelry market; silver share lower vs gold/platinum. |
| Mexico | $18 | Producer nation but per-capita silver consumption modest. |
Statista Consumer Market Outlook (Jewelry segment) 2023, complemented by national statistics agencies (BEA for US, Eurostat, METI for Japan). Figures are total jewelry spend; silver typically 8-15% of per-capita total in mature markets, higher in producer/cultural-jewelry markets.
6. Major silver trade flows (USD billions, annual)
| Route | Description | Approx value |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico → United States | primary refined silver export route | $4.20 B |
| Switzerland → India | Swiss refining hub re-exporting refined silver to Indian jewelry manufacturers | $2.10 B |
| Hong Kong → Mainland China | silver bars and semi-finished forms | $1.80 B |
| Peru → United States | concentrate and refined silver | $1.50 B |
| United Kingdom → United Arab Emirates | LBMA-good-delivery bars to MENA gold-souks | $1.20 B |
| China → Japan | industrial silver paste and chemical compounds | $0.80 B |
| Italy → United States | finished silver jewelry | $0.65 B |
| Germany → France | industrial silver products and intermediate goods | $0.55 B |
UN Comtrade Database (HS 7106 silver, including refined silver, semi-manufactures, and silver jewelry). Approximate annual values; routes consolidated for clarity.
Notes for editors and researchers
This dataset is suitable for: business-school case studies on commodities markets and supply chains; consumer-behavior research on jewelry spending; trade-publication editorial requiring silver-industry context; investment newsletters covering precious metals; sustainability research on solar PV silver demand.
Caveats
- Estimate vs final. 2024 production and demand figures are preliminary estimates. Silver Institute publishes finalized figures the following spring (April).
- Price source. LBMA "year-end" is the last published fix of the calendar year. Daily and intraday data available directly from LBMA.
- Trade-flow valuation. UN Comtrade values are the importer-reported CIF prices; producer-reported FOB prices may differ by ~5-10%.
- Per-capita comparison. Cross-country jewelry spend comparisons are affected by purchasing-power parity, gold-vs-silver mix, and informal-market activity. Use trends within a single country for the most rigorous analysis.
Citation formats
APA
25hours. (2024). Global silver market & trade data: Public-source reference v1.0. Silver Reference Library. https://25hours.net/pages/global-silver-market-data
MLA
25hours. "Global Silver Market & Trade Data." Silver Reference Library, 25hours, 2024, 25hours.net/pages/global-silver-market-data.
Chicago (notes & bibliography)
25hours, "Global Silver Market & Trade Data," Silver Reference Library, 2024, https://25hours.net/pages/global-silver-market-data.
Cross-references in this library
Auf Deutsch lesen: Globaler Silbermarkt & Handelsdaten — Referenz öffentlicher Quellen
Last reviewed and updated: June 2026.