Industrial Silver Demand

Industrial fabrication consumed a record 680.5 million ounces of silver in 2024 — the fourth consecutive annual record, and well over half of total global demand of 1,164.1 million ounces (Silver Institute, World Silver Survey 2025). That is what makes silver different from gold: gold is bought to be held, while silver is bought to be used, and used-up silver does not come back. The three engines below explain the record.

Solar panels — the biggest structural change in a generation

Solar photovoltaic manufacturing used a record 197.6 million ounces of silver in 2024 — about 29% of all industrial silver demand, up from just 11% in 2014. Silver paste forms the conductive lines on a solar cell, and there is no cheaper substitute that conducts as well. Global solar installations hit a record in 2024 — over 550 GW of new capacity (IEA PV programme) — so even as manufacturers cut the silver per cell, total silver use kept rising. The honest caveat: that cutting, called thrifting, is real and accelerating. Manufacturers reduce silver loadings per unit as prices rise and technology improves, which can dampen per-unit demand growth even while total panel volumes climb.

Electric vehicles and electronics

An electric vehicle uses considerably more silver than a petrol car — across its battery, power electronics, charging systems and wiring — so every million EVs sold adds a new block of silver demand that did not exist a decade ago. Electronics is the older, steadier engine: silver’s unmatched conductivity puts it in switches, contacts, circuit boards and the data-centre infrastructure behind AI, where reliability matters more than the metal’s cost. Medical uses — silver’s antibacterial properties in wound care, coatings and instruments — are smaller but steady, and they do not depend on the economic cycle.

Why supply cannot catch up quickly

Total supply was 1,015.1 million ounces in 2024 against demand of 1,164.1 million — a shortfall of 148.9 million ounces, the fourth consecutive annual deficit. Mine production was 819.7 million ounces, growing barely 1% — and roughly 70% of mined silver comes as a by-product of copper, zinc and lead mining, so it responds to those metals’ prices, not silver’s. New primary silver mines take years to permit and build, and recycling, while large, has not closed the gap. The survey forecast a fifth, smaller deficit of about 117.6 million ounces for 2025. A deficit is not a price forecast — above-ground stocks are large, and thrifting and substitution can shrink demand — but it is the structural backdrop behind silver’s price today. For the price itself, see the live silver spot price, and for how silver compares with gold as an investment, silver vs gold.