Hong Kong, China, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Germany were, in descending order, the five largest exporters of silver in the world in 2023, according to data from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Bank of Mexico (Banxico).

Foreign sales of this metal from Hong Kong and China increased at inter-annual rates of 36% and 10%, to 4,685 and 3,050 million dollars respectively.

Since silver is generally not recognized as a reserve asset, there are no official statistics published by the International Monetary Fund, the Bank for International Settlements or national banks on the silver holdings of national governments. 

In industrial terms, most of the silver product is obtained from mining in which silver is not the main or primary product. 

According to the Silver Institute, only about 28% of production in 2022 came from so-called primary silver mines, where silver is the main source of revenue.

In the subsequent rankings, silver exports from Mexico were $2.802 billion, up 11% year-on-year, followed by the United Kingdom ($2.786 billion, -66%) and Germany ($1.832 billion, +1%).

Silver exporters

According to the Silver Institute, silver demand in 2023 was driven by industrial demand (with a 48 percent share, including photovoltaic, electrical and electronics), physical demand for bars and coins (27 percent), jewelry and silverware (22 percent) and other demand, especially photography (3 percent). 

In particular, Mexican silver exports rose from $2.289 billion in 2020 to $28.321 billion in 2021.

But then they declined to $2.535 billion.

An increase in global silver production or changes in technology, industrial processes or consumption habits, may decrease the demand for silver.

Increased demand for substitute materials can be technologically induced, when technological improvements make alternative products more attractive for first or end use than silver or allow for less silver application, or price induced, when a sustained increase in the price of silver leads to partial substitution of silver for a less expensive product or reduced silver application.