The dollar value for globally exported silver accelerated by an average 87.3% since 2018 when overall silver shipments were valued at $17.9 billion.
Year over year, globally exported silver fell -9.2% compared to $36.9 billion during 2021.
The 5 top silver exporters are United Kingdom, Hong Kong, mainland China, Mexico and Germany. Combined, that quintet of major silver exporters generated well over half (55.1%) of international silver sales during 2022.
From a continents’ perspective, suppliers located in Europe sold the highest dollar worth of silver on world markets in 2022 with shipments amounting to $15.6 billion or 46.7% of globally exported silver. In second place were exporters in Asia at 35.3% compared to another 15% worth of silver shipments that originated from North America.
Smaller percentages came from providers in Latin America (2.2%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, trailed by Oceania (0.45%) led by Australia and Papua New Guinea, then Africa (0.38%).
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code prefix is 7106 for unwrought or semi-manufactured silver. That HTS prefix code encompasses silver plated with gold or platinum.
Silver Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of silver during 2022.
- United Kingdom: US$8.2 billion (24.3% of total silver exports)
- Hong Kong: $3.5 billion (10.3%)
- China: $2.8 billion (8.3%)
- Mexico: $2.3 billion (6.8%)
- Germany: $1.8 billion (5.4%)
- United States: $1.8 billion (5.3%)
- South Korea: $1.6 billion (4.9%)
- Switzerland: $1.6 billion (4.9%)
- Japan: $1.6 billion (4.8%)
- Canada: $949.9 million (2.8%)
- Poland: $948.2 million (2.8%)
- Russia: $817.2 million (2.4%)
- Türkiye: $688.6 million (2.1%)
- Kazakhstan: $660.3 million (2%)
- Italy: $552.2 million (1.6%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 88.7% of global silver exported in 2022.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing silver exporters since 2021 were: United Kingdom (up 125%), Türkiye (up 97.5%), Canada (up 16.4%) and Italy (up 12.9%).
Major suppliers that posted declines in their exported silver sales were led by: Hong Kong (down -48.5% from 2021), United States of America (down -36.7%), mainland China (down -26.1%), South Korea (down -23.6%) and Japan (down -23.5%).
Countries Earning Highest Trade Surpluses from Silver
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for silver during 2022. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s silver exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- United Kingdom: US$5.9 billion (reversing a -$2.6 billion deficit in 2021)
- Mexico: $2.2 billion (down -10.5% since 2021)
- mainland China: $1.7 billion (down -18.8%)
- South Korea: $1.5 billion (down -23.9%)
- Hong Kong: $1 billion (down -73.8%)
- Poland: $898.4 million (down -10.4%)
- Russia: $811.2 million (up 12.6%)
- Kazakhstan: $657.8 million (down -11.5%)
- Belgium: $431.7 million (down -11%)
- Chile: $366.6 million (up 18.1%)
- Sweden: $347.4 million (down -11.4%)
- Japan: $331.4 million (up 68.7%)
- Germany: $327.5 million (down -65.9%)
- Switzerland: $286.2 million (down -57.7%)
- Peru: $196.3 million (down -15%)
Overtaking Mexico in 2022, the United Kingdom earned the highest surplus in the international trade of silver. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms the UK’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Posting Worst Trade Deficits from Silver
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for silver during 2022. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s silver import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- India: -US$6.3 billion (net export deficit up 258.9% since 2021)
- United States of America: -$3.6 billion (down -7.3%)
- Canada: -$1.8 billion (down -47.8%)
- Türkiye: -$843.2 million (up 330.3%)
- Australia: -$624.5 million (up 90%)
- Thailand: -$599.8 million (down -6%)
- France: -$367.8 million (down -10.2%)
- Taiwan: -$336.4 million (down -1.3%)
- Austria: -$299.7 million (up 5.9%)
- Italy: -$183.2 million (down -15.9%)
- Singapore: -$125.1 million (down -46.9%)
- Czech Republic: -$82.4 million (down -11.7%)
- Brazil: -$61.8 million (down -35.4%)
- Malaysia: -$59.1 million (down -41.2%)
- New Zealand: -$49.3 million (down -8.2%)
The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of silver. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights America’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for silver-supplying countries that help satisfy powerful US demand for the precious metal.
Silver Exporting Companies
MINING.com identifies global silver-producing conglomerates that represent the largest players in the worldwide silver market trade. Shown within parenthesis is the country where the company is headquartered.
- BHP Billiton PLC (Australia/United Kingdom)
- Fresnillo PLC (United Kingdom/Mexico)
- Glencore PLC (Switzerland)
- Goldcorp Inc (Canada)
- KGHM Polska Miedź SA (Poland)
- Pan American Silver PLC (Canada)
- Polzmetal International PLC (United Kingdom)
- Tahoe Resources Inc (United States)
- Volcan Compañía Minera SAA (Peru)
According to global trade intelligence firm Zepol, the following companies are also multinational suppliers of silver.
- Doe Run Peru (Peru)
- Silver Wheaton Corp. (Canada)
- Sumitomo Corporation (Japan)
Searchable List of Silver Exporting Countries in 2022
By dollar value, the following 100 countries sold 99.99995% of globally exported silver in 2022.
| Rank | Exporter | Silver Exports | 2021-2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | United Kingdom | $8,151,748,000 | +125% |
| 2. | Hong Kong | $3,454,679,000 | -48.5% |
| 3. | China | $2,767,125,000 | -26.1% |
| 4. | Mexico | $2,282,304,000 | -10.3% |
| 5. | Germany | $1,808,042,000 | -19.1% |
| 6. | United States | $1,783,427,000 | -36.7% |
| 7. | South Korea | $1,630,977,000 | -23.6% |
| 8. | Switzerland | $1,630,958,000 | -16.9% |
| 9. | Japan | $1,608,632,000 | -23.5% |
| 10. | Canada | $949,888,000 | +16.4% |
| 11. | Poland | $948,183,000 | -9.3% |
| 12. | Russia | $817,226,000 | +10% |
| 13. | Türkiye | $688,645,000 | +97.5% |
| 14. | Kazakhstan | $660,343,000 | -11.4% |
| 15. | Italy | $552,215,000 | +12.9% |
| 16. | Belgium | $513,297,000 | -11.8% |
| 17. | Spain | $399,634,000 | +23.3% |
| 18. | Sweden | $374,257,000 | -12% |
| 19. | Chile | $372,295,000 | +17.5% |
| 20. | Taiwan | $259,286,000 | -57.3% |
| 21. | Peru | $197,888,000 | -14.6% |
| 22. | Uzbekistan | $145,300,000 | -19.7% |
| 23. | France | $127,422,000 | -6.6% |
| 24. | Thailand | $125,820,000 | -26.9% |
| 25. | Laos | $118,614,000 | +515613% |
| 26. | Bolivia | $114,766,000 | -23% |
| 27. | Singapore | $111,827,000 | -18.6% |
| 28. | Australia | $104,292,000 | -55% |
| 29. | Indonesia | $97,640,000 | -17.9% |
| 30. | United Arab Emirates | $90,807,000 | -18.5% |
| 31. | Morocco | $82,577,000 | -25.9% |
| 32. | Netherlands | $70,978,000 | +11.6% |
| 33. | Austria | $70,624,000 | +9.3% |
| 34. | Bulgaria | $57,775,000 | +50.7% |
| 35. | India | $46,677,000 | -86.5% |
| 36. | Papua New Guinea | $44,404,000 | +0.2% |
| 37. | Czech Republic | $36,261,000 | -7.3% |
| 38. | South Africa | $34,382,000 | +53.9% |
| 39. | Hungary | $30,571,000 | +0.3% |
| 40. | Argentina | $18,976,000 | -88.6% |
| 41. | Norway | $18,276,000 | +34.7% |
| 42. | Nicaragua | $15,507,000 | -30.1% |
| 43. | Malaysia | $13,592,000 | +25.1% |
| 44. | Portugal | $5,990,000 | +116.6% |
| 45. | Burkina Faso | $5,136,000 | -29% |
| 46. | Serbia | $5,077,000 | -42.7% |
| 47. | Dominican Republic | $5,018,000 | +262.8% |
| 48. | Denmark | $4,988,000 | -37.8% |
| 49. | Colombia | $4,377,000 | -15.1% |
| 50. | Egypt | $4,132,000 | -33.5% |
| 51. | Israel | $4,036,000 | -53.5% |
| 52. | Brazil | $3,997,000 | -32.5% |
| 53. | Azerbaijan | $3,822,000 | +73.3% |
| 54. | Saudi Arabia | $3,486,000 | +67.9% |
| 55. | Slovenia | $3,177,000 | +2.6% |
| 56. | Greece | $2,804,000 | -57.1% |
| 57. | Slovakia | $2,678,000 | +14.1% |
| 58. | Mongolia | $2,336,000 | -86.2% |
| 59. | Estonia | $2,324,000 | -24.2% |
| 60. | Tajikistan | $2,281,000 | -52.5% |
| 61. | Ireland | $1,905,000 | -4.9% |
| 62. | Finland | $1,620,000 | +9.2% |
| 63. | Philippines | $1,272,000 | -87.7% |
| 64. | Armenia | $1,106,000 | 0% |
| 65. | Senegal | $898,000 | +80.7% |
| 66. | Tokelau | $799,000 | -81.3% |
| 67. | Tanzania | $748,000 | 0% |
| 68. | Suriname | $736,000 | +32.6% |
| 69. | Lebanon | $567,000 | -80.3% |
| 70. | New Zealand | $550,000 | -59.5% |
| 71. | Kyrgyzstan | $543,000 | 0% |
| 72. | Lithuania | $524,000 | -73.6% |
| 73. | Fiji | $411,000 | -27.8% |
| 74. | Luxembourg | $409,000 | +501.5% |
| 75. | Jordan | $386,000 | -1% |
| 76. | Mali | $305,000 | +486.5% |
| 77. | Croatia | $291,000 | -49.4% |
| 78. | Cyprus | $275,000 | +69.8% |
| 79. | Ecuador | $207,000 | -72.3% |
| 80. | Vietnam | $194,000 | -88.7% |
| 81. | Panama | $106,000 | -91.3% |
| 82. | Ghana | $93,000 | -27.9% |
| 83. | Eswatini | $51,000 | 0% |
| 84. | Honduras | $50,000 | -90.8% |
| 85. | Costa Rica | $44,000 | +238.5% |
| 86. | Afghanistan | $37,000 | -86.4% |
| 87. | Malta | $31,000 | -8.8% |
| 88. | Bahrain | $21,000 | 0% |
| 89. | Latvia | $16,000 | +45.5% |
| 90. | Niue | $12,000 | +500% |
| 91. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $11,000 | +10% |
| 92. | El Salvador | $9,000 | +200% |
| 93. | Jamaica | $8,000 | 0% |
| 94. | Cuba | $7,000 | -74.1% |
| 95. | Ukraine | $7,000 | 0% |
| 96. | Samoa | $7,000 | 0% |
| 97. | Cayman Islands | $6,000 | 0% |
| 98. | Pakistan | $4,000 | 0% |
| 99. | Barbados | $3,000 | 0% |
| 100. | Saint Helena | $2,000 | -96.6% |
Expanding the scope of our analysis to the top 100 silver exporters, the fastest gainers were Laos (up 515,613% from 2021), Luxembourg (up 501.5%), Niue (up 500%), Mali (up 486.5%), Dominican Republic (up 262.8%), Costa Rica (up 238.5%), El Salvador (up 200%) then the United Kingdom (up 125%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2021 data was unavailable.
See also Gold Exports by Country, Platinum Exports by Country, Hong Kong’s Top 10 Exports, and Most Valuable Global Markets for Selling Silver Imports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on August 25, 2023
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 25, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 25, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 25, 2023
MINING.com, We are the world’s largest silver producer: KGHM. Accessed on August 25, 2023
Wikipedia, Category: Silver mining companies. Accessed on August 25, 2023
Zepol’s company summary highlights by HTS code. Accessed on August 25, 2023
