World Silver Survey 2026: A Sixth Straight Deficit, 2025 Supply and Demand, and the Miners Behind the Numbers

The World Silver Survey 2026, compiled for the Silver Institute by the consultancy Metals Focus and released in April, is the most complete public count of where silver came from and where it went in 2025. Its headline: the market was in deficit for a fifth straight year in 2025 and is forecast to stay in deficit in 2026 (Silver Institute, April 15, 2026). Here are the numbers that matter, checked against the full report.

2025: demand dipped, but still outran supply

Total silver demand fell 2% in 2025 to 1,130.6 million ounces (Moz), according to the survey's supply-demand table (World Silver Survey 2026). Industrial use, the largest category, slipped 3% to 657.4 Moz, which works out to about 58% of total demand. Photovoltaic (solar) demand fell 6% to 186.6 Moz as panel makers thrifted and substituted silver after prices rose. Electronics tied to AI infrastructure, cars and power grids held up better.

Investors moved the other way. Coin and net bar demand rose 14% to 217.7 Moz after two years of decline, led by India (+33%), while the U.S. posted a third straight annual drop.

On the supply side, mine production rose 3% to 846.6 Moz and recycling rose 2% to 197.6 Moz, the highest in more than a decade. The result was a 40.3 Moz deficit, much narrower than 2024's 137.9 Moz. Adding the survey's annual balances for 2021 through 2025 gives a cumulative shortfall of about 716 Moz.

2026 forecast: a sixth deficit

Metals Focus expects total demand to fall another 2% in 2026, to 1.11 billion ounces. Industrial demand is forecast down 3%, with PV offtake down 19% to 151.0 Moz. Coin and bar demand is forecast up 18%. Mine output is expected to be roughly flat, so the deficit is projected to widen to 46.3 Moz.

Why supply is slow to respond

Most silver is a by-product. In 2025, non-primary mines produced 625.5 Moz, and the share of supply from primary silver mines fell to a new low of 26%, the survey says. Lead-zinc, copper and gold mines decide their output based on those metals, not on silver's price.

By country, Mexico remained the largest producer at 172.9 Moz in 2025, down 5% on operational disruptions, policy shifts and lower grades, followed by Peru (130.6 Moz) and China (112.8 Moz). The U.S. Geological Survey's estimates line up: world mine production of about 26,000 tonnes in 2025 and reserves of 610,000 tonnes (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026).

The miners

The survey's company table for 2025 puts Fresnillo first at 47.6 Moz (down 12%), followed by KGHM (43.3 Moz), Polymetal and Newmont (28.0 Moz each), Southern Copper (24.2 Moz) and Pan American Silver (22.8 Moz). North American names further down include Coeur Mining (17.9 Moz, up 57%), Hecla Mining (17.0 Moz), First Majestic Silver (15.4 Moz, up 84%) and Teck Resources (10.5 Moz, an estimate). Several of these are base-metal miners, which underlines the by-product point. For more on the producers, see our silver producers guide.

The U.S. angle

USGS estimates U.S. mine output at about 1,100 tonnes in 2025, up 4%, with Alaska the leading silver state, followed by Nevada. Silver was added to the final 2025 U.S. List of Critical Minerals, published on November 7, 2025.

Where prices stand

The survey's London price averaged US$40.03/oz in 2025, up 42%, and the Silver Institute says prices hit an all-time high above US$121 on January 29, 2026, before falling back. The World Bank Pink Sheet shows silver averaging US$64.6/oz in September 2026. The front-month COMEX futures contract closed at US$53.95 on October 23, 2026 (Yahoo Finance, SI=F). A deficit has not prevented a sharp fall from the January peak, which is why the survey's numbers are best read as context, not a price signal.

More in our silver and United States coverage, and in our company profiles.

How we checked this: AI-drafted from the sources linked above and checked against them by our AI editor.