- Since January, the silver price has soared by almost +42%, outperforming gold.

- In 2025, demand for silver-backed financial products reached a new record, testifying to "stock market" investors' marked appetite for the grey metal.

- On the other hand, the absence of any real rebound in demand for coins and bullion still highlights a gap between investors in financial products and those focused on physical investment.

For the coming months, the Silver Institute anticipates sustained demand for both financial products and physical silver, particularly if the price of silver breaks through the symbolic threshold of $40 per ounce.

ARTICLE SUMMARY :

• 1) Demand for financial investments soars
• 2) Demand for coins and bullion stagnates
• 3) A market still under pressure
• 4) How high can silver go?

1) Financial investment demand soars

The silver-backed exchange-traded product (ETP) segment has seen a spectacular surge, with 95 million ounces of net flows invested in the first six months of 2025. That's already more than in the whole of 2024!

At the end of June, the Silver Institute reported that global holdings in these ETPs had reached 1.13 billion ounces, just 7% below their all-time high of February 2021 (1.21 billion ounces). In value terms, a new record was set. For the first time, these assets exceeded $40 billion.

But it is above all the vigour of the movement that impresses, with June alone accounting for almost half of all ETP acquisitions for the half-year. This acceleration recalls the frenzy of 2021, driven by the "Reddit effect", which temporarily propelled the silver market into the spotlight.

2) Demand for coins and bullion stagnates

The United States, India, Germany and Australia alone account for almost 80% of global demand for silver coins and ingots. According to the Silver Institute, a gradual recovery has been underway in Europe since the end of 2024, but volumes are still well below those seen between 2020 and 2022.

In the United States, resales by private individuals remain strong, weighing on demand for new coins and ingots, down by around 30% over the year. Conversely, demand in India continues to grow strongly, confirming its central role in the dynamics of the physical market.

3) A market still under pressure

Investment demand is a key factor in short- and medium-term silver price trends. But we mustn't forget that silver is also a strategic industrial metal, subject to long-term trends.

The continuing growth in demand in the electronics and especially photovoltaic sectors makes silver a critical metal for the future of our economies. In less than ten years, industrial consumption has risen by almost 40%, driven largely by the boom in renewable energies.

This dynamism is creating structural imbalances: since 2019, the market has been recording a chronic deficit between mining production and consumption. Year after year, this deficit is growing, helping to sustain a lasting upward trend in the grey metal.

Furthermore, global silver supply is characterized by high inelasticity. Silver is rarely mined on its own, and more often than not comes as a by-product of copper, zinc or gold mining.

This configuration limits producers' ability to quickly adjust supply to growing demand, pointing to a lasting imbalance, potentially spanning several years or even decades.

4) How high can silver go?

Since its last peak at $49 an ounce in 2011, the silver price has undergone a long phase of decline, reaching a low of $16.4 in March 2020. Subsequently, growing market tensions have encouraged a reversal of the trend.

After a post-COVID surge towards $30, the grey metal consolidated until 2024. The year 2025 now confirms a clear change in fundamentals, driven by increasing scarcity of supply.

However, silver has long lagged behind gold. The announcement of a probable rate cut by the US Federal Reserve has helped accelerate its advance in recent weeks.

The breaching of the $40 threshold at the end of August, and the $41 threshold at the beginning of September, now paves the way for a technical target of $43 and beyond. The absence of clear resistances for almost a decade suggests a number of bullish scenarios for the remainder of the year.

However, too sharp a slowdown in the global economy could temper this momentum. In this case, the positive impact of a Fed rate cut would be lessened by a contraction in industrial demand for silver, a sector which remains an essential pillar of its market.

Conclusion

In 2025, silver is ahead of equities and crypto-currencies, with a rise of almost +40% since January, surpassing that of gold. This movement is largely fuelled by spectacular demand for silver-backed financial products.

Yet physical demand for coins and bullion is struggling to grow: solid in India, gradually recovering in Europe, but still penalized by heavy resales in the United States. This discrepancy highlights a persistent duality between "financial" and "retail" investors.