Alan Kennedy
2024-07-30 15:30:19
www.visualcapitalist.com
See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.
Top Silver Mining Countries in 2023
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Silver is one of the world’s most precious metals, and for the last 5,000 years, it’s been used in various ways, from everyday jewelry to coins and alloys.
So, in this graphic, we used data from The Silver Institute’s World Silver Survey 2024 to explore the drivers behind silver demand and analyze each country’s silver production in 2023.
What Drives Silver Mining?
In recent years, silver’s use as a brazing alloy or solder and within electronics has seen industrial demand grow consistently, and between 2022 and 2023, total industrial demand grew by 11%.
One of the key reasons behind this industrial growth is the critical role silver plays in solar photovoltaics. Consequently, demand for the silver used for this technology has grown 64% between 2022 and 2023.
Despite industrial growth, total silver production dipped slightly in 2023 (-1%). One potential reason for this dip is the considerable drop in demand for jewelry and silverware—13% and 25%, respectively.
Ranking Global Silver Production by Country
In 2023, global silver mining produced over 831 million ounces (Moz) of silver. Here’s how this breaks down by country:
Rank | Nation | Mined Silver (Moz) | Share (%) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Mexico | 202 | 24% |
2 | China | 109 | 13% |
3 | Peru | 107 | 13% |
4 | Chile | 52 | 6% |
5 | Bolivia | 43 | 5% |
6 | Poland | 43 | 5% |
7 | Russia | 40 | 5% |
8 | Australia | 34 | 4% |
9 | United States | 32 | 4% |
10 | Argentina | 26 | 3% |
11 | India | 24 | 3% |
12 | Kazakhstan | 17 | 2% |
13 | Sweden | 13 | 2% |
14 | Indonesia | 10 | 1% |
15 | Morocco | 9 | 1% |
16 | Rest of World | 71 | 8% |
Global Total | 831 | 100% |
Three countries dominated global silver mining in 2023: Mexico (24%), China (13%), and Peru (13%). These nations collectively accounted for over half of the world’s silver production.
However, the significance of silver in modern technologies has spurred increased production in certain countries. For instance, Chile experienced a 24% surge in silver production between 2022 and 2023, and Papua New Guinea increased output by 42%.
The data for this visualization was sourced from the World Silver Survey 2024, a publication by one of our data partners, The Silver Institute. Our data partnerships are commercial agreements that may or may not include compensation, and partners are not involved with our editorial or graphical processes in any capacity.
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The post Ranked: The World’s Largest Silver Producers, by Country appeared first on Visual Capitalist.