The Silver Institute's annual World Silver Survey provides the most comprehensive data set available on global silver market fundamentals, covering mine production, recycling supply, industrial fabrication demand, investment demand, and price analysis. The 2025 edition documents another year in which demand surged ahead of available supply, continuing a structural deficit trend that has supported silver prices.
Global silver mine production in 2024 reached approximately 836 million ounces, a slight recovery from the prior year but still constrained by project development timelines and capital constraints at mid-tier miners. Mexico, Peru, China, Russia, and Australia represent the top five producing countries, with no single nation dominating global output the way Saudi Arabia does in crude oil markets.
Industrial demand, which accounts for more than half of total silver consumption, continued to grow in 2024 driven by photovoltaic solar cell manufacturing. Each solar panel manufactured requires small but cumulative quantities of silver for electrical contacts, and the global acceleration of solar installations has made the PV sector one of the most significant demand drivers in the silver market.
Investment demand, which includes exchange-traded products, bar and coin purchases, and futures market positioning, adds price volatility to an already tight physical market. Central bank gold purchases have indirectly benefited silver by improving investor sentiment toward precious metals broadly.
Source: Silver Institute -- https://www.silverinstitute.org/silver-supply-demand/