As of 2025, Peru had the world's largest silver reserves, at metric tons. Russia had the second-largest silver reserves worldwide at that time, amounting to metric tons. Global silver reserves amounted to a total of metric tons in 2025.
Global silver prices and uses
In 2025, the average price of silver was 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 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.