Global reserves of silver 2024, by leading country

As of 2024, Peru had the world's largest silver reserves, at 140,000 metric tons. Australia had the second-largest silver reserves worldwide at that time, amounting to 94,000 metric tons. Global silver reserves amounted to a total of 640,000 metric tons in 2024. 

Global silver prices and uses

In 2023, the average price of silver was 23.35 U.S. dollars per ounce. As a precious metal, silver is often used for currency as coins, as ornaments, in jewelry, and for silverware. It has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal, which makes it extremely useful for certain industrial applications, such as electrical contacts and conductors as well as a catalyst in chemical reactions.

Top silver producers in the world

In 2024, the global mining industry produced an estimated 25,000 metric tons of silver. Only about 20 percent of silver is produced as primary production, mostly, it is collected as a by-product through the mining of other metals such as copper, lead, zinc, and gold. The leading silver producing countries include Mexico, Peru, and China. As the world's largest silver producing country, several of the world's largest silver mining companies are headquartered in Mexico. Mexico has large silver belts such as the Sierra Madre belt located within the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range. In Australia, much of its silver is sourced from galena, a silver-bearing lead mineral, hence, Cannington Mine, the largest silver and lead mine in the world, is located in Queensland.