Silver Shortage Widens as Supply Falls Faster Than Demand

The Silver Institute, an industry association that represents companies involved in silver mining and refining, recently released its World Silver Survey 2026. The report highlights a widening deficit in the global silver market due to falling supply and demand.

According to Metals Focus, an independent London consultancy, total silver supply is expected to drop by about 2%, from 1,090.4 million ounces to 1,066.4 million. Meanwhile, demand is forecast to decrease slightly, from 1,130.6 million ounces to 1,112.6 million.

This means that the deficit is widening not because demand is surging, but because supply is falling faster than demand. The Silver Institute's data shows that the missing metal comes out of above-ground stocks, which have supplied around 762.1 million ounces since 2021 to bridge five years of gaps in global silver production.

The report also notes that silver's buffer is harder to rebuild than gold's because a large share of it gets used up in industrial applications such as electronics and solar panels. A deficit year moves silver out of the buffer, making it difficult to reverse.