A Kitco News survey of retail precious metals investors conducted in late December 2025 found that 57 percent expect silver prices to trade above 100 dollars per ounce at some point in 2026, following a year in which the metal gained roughly 170 percent. The survey captured investor sentiment after silver's strongest annual performance since 1979, with spot prices trading not far from 80 dollars per ounce at the time the survey was conducted.
Beyond the majority expecting triple-digit prices, another 27 percent of respondents predicted silver would trade in a range between 80 and 100 dollars per ounce during 2026. Eleven percent expected prices to top out somewhere between 60 and 80 dollars, while the remaining 5 percent anticipated a pullback into the 40 to 60 dollar range. The findings reflect a retail investor base still largely optimistic about silver's trajectory even as some large banks and institutions have grown more cautious as the metal approached the 80 dollar level.
Kitco's reporting noted that silver's rally followed a difficult stretch, including an aborted rally in 2024 and tariff-related uncertainty in early 2025 that clouded the outlook for the metal's industrial demand. Despite those headwinds, silver ultimately delivered a standout year, and the survey results suggest many individual investors expect that momentum to continue rather than reverse.
Retail investor sentiment surveys like Kitco's are closely watched by the precious metals industry as a gauge of coin and bar demand, which the Silver Institute has separately forecast to rise to a three-year high in 2026 as Western physical investment recovers from three consecutive years of decline.
Source: Kitco News – https://www.kitco.com/news/article/2025-12-26/57-retail-investors-expect-silver-trade-above-100oz-2026-experts-see