The global silver market is set to record its sixth consecutive annual supply deficit in 2026, according to the Silver Institute World Silver Survey. The shortfall is projected at 46.3 million ounces, widening from a 40.3 million ounce deficit in 2025, marking the sixth straight year that demand has exceeded total supply.

The composition of demand is shifting sharply. Sustained high prices are pushing solar panel makers and jewelry fabricators to design silver out of their products, but that industrial pullback is being overwhelmed by a wave of retail capital into physical coins, bars, and exchange-traded products. Global coin and net bar demand rose 14 percent in 2025, helped by a 33 percent jump in physical investment in India, while exchange-traded products recorded net inflows of 68.3 million ounces.

The Institute expects investment momentum to accelerate, forecasting an 18 percent increase in physical investment in 2026 to the highest level since 2022. On the industrial side, jewelry fabrication fell 8 percent in 2025 and is projected to drop a further 16 percent this year to a five-year low of 159.4 million ounces, while silverware demand is slated to fall 20 percent.

The result is a market defined by shrinking above-ground inventories and the potential for sharp price swings. With mine supply unable to close the gap, the depletion of stockpiles provides a structural floor under prices over the medium term.

Source: The Silver Institute - https://silverinstitute.org/global-silver-investment-to-remain-strong-in-2026-against-the-backdrop-of-a-sixth-consecutive-annual-market-deficit/