Silver industrial demand reached a record 680.5 million ounces in 2024, a 4 percent rise and the fourth consecutive annual high, according to the World Silver Survey 2025 published by the Silver Institute and researched by Metals Focus.

Total silver demand fell 3 percent to 1.16 billion ounces for the year, held up by industrial fabrication while physical investment weakened. Supply did not close the gap. Global mine production rose 0.9 percent to 819.7 million ounces, helped by added output from lead and zinc mines in Australia, a recovery in Mexico and incremental growth from Bolivia and the United States. Recycling climbed 6 percent to a 12-year high of 193.9 million ounces, driven largely by processing of spent ethylene oxide catalysts.

The result was a structural market deficit of 148.9 million ounces, the fourth straight annual shortfall. Across 2021 through 2024 the combined deficit reached 678 million ounces, equal to roughly 10 months of global mine supply at 2024 rates.

US figures moved against the global trend. American industrial demand fell 6 percent in 2024, and US coin and bar demand dropped 46 percent, the steepest decline among major Western markets, which the survey attributed to profit taking at higher prices and market saturation. Worldwide coin and net bar demand fell 22 percent to a five-year low of 190.9 million ounces.

Silver sourced from gold mines grew 12 percent to 13.9 million ounces, a three-year high, while output from lead and zinc mines stayed flat year over year. The average silver price rose 21 percent during 2024, and the survey projected the deficit would narrow to 117.6 million ounces in 2025.

Source: The Silver Institute - https://silverinstitute.org/silver-industrial-demand-reached-a-record-680-5-moz-in-2024/