The dollar value for globally exported silver accelerated by an average 90.6% since 2017 when overall silver shipments were valued at $19.4 billion.
Year over year, globally exported silver rose 42.6% from $25.9 billion during 2020.
The 5 top silver exporters are Hong Kong, United Kingdom, mainland China, United States of America, and Mexico. Combined, that quintet of major silver exporters generated over half (52%) of international silver sales during 2021.
Among continents, suppliers located in Asia sold the highest dollar worth of silver on world markets in 2021 with shipments amounting to $17.6 billion or 47.6% of globally exported silver. In second place were European exporters at 32.1% compared to the 16.7% worth of silver shipments that originated from North America.
Smaller percentages came from providers in Latin America (2.4%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, trailed by Oceania (0.8%) led by Australia and Papua New Guinea, then Africa (0.4%).
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 2021.
- Hong Kong: US$6.7 billion (18.2% of total silver exports)
- United Kingdom: $3.6 billion (9.8%)
- China: $3.5 billion (9.5%)
- United States: $2.8 billion (7.6%)
- Mexico: $2.5 billion (6.9%)
- Germany: $2.2 billion (6%)
- South Korea: $2.1 billion (5.8%)
- Japan: $2.1 billion (5.7%)
- Switzerland: $2 billion (5.3%)
- Kazakhstan: $1.1 billion (3%)
- Poland: $1 billion (2.8%)
- Canada: $815.9 million (2.2%)
- Russia: $743.2 million (2%)
- Taiwan: $606.8 million (1.6%)
- Belgium: $587.9 million (1.6%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 88.1% of global silver exported in 2021.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing silver exporters since 2020 were: Taiwan (up 312.3%), Hong Kong (up 122.3%), Switzerland (up 102.3%) and Kazakhstan (up 80.5%).
Two top countries posted declines in their exported silver sales namely Canada (down -12.7%) and the United Kingdom (down -3.6%).
Countries Earning Highest Trade Surpluses from Silver
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for silver during 2021. 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.
- Hong Kong: US$3.9 billion (net export surplus up 117.5% since 2020)
- Mexico: $2.4 billion (up 16.4%)
- South Korea: $1.96 billion (up 32%)
- China: $1.95 billion (up 77.1%)
- Kazakhstan: $1.1 billion (up 80.5%)
- Poland: $1 billion (up 20.4%)
- Germany: $954.8 million (down -8%)
- Russia: $720.2 million (up 77.7%)
- Switzerland: $694.7 million (up 111.3%)
- Belgium: $488.7 million (up 15.6%)
- Sweden: $392.1 million (up 15.8%)
- Chile: $310.5 million (up 26.1%)
- Peru: $231 million (up 38.7%)
- Japan: $193 million (down -45.8%)
- Argentina: $156.7 million (up 133.1%)
Mexico earned the highest surplus in the international trade of silver. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Mexico’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 2021. 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.
- United States: -US$3.9 billion (net export deficit down -3.5% since 2021)
- Canada: -$3.4 billion (up 100%)
- United Kingdom: -$2.6 billion (reversing a $1 billion surplus)
- India: -$1.8 billion (up 70.3%)
- Thailand: -$637.8 million (up 65.5%)
- France: -$409.5 million (up 78.6%)
- Taiwan: -$341.2 million (down -9.5%)
- Australia: -$328.7 million (down -35.8%)
- Austria: -$292.4 million (up 57.5%)
- Singapore: -$235.7 million (down -16.4%)
- Italy: -$224.1 million (up 149.8%)
- Turkey: -$195.9 million (down -44%)
- Nepal: -$118.8 million (up 168.6%)
- Malaysia: -$100.6 million (up 106.6%)
- Brazil: -$95.6 million (up 97%)
The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of silver. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights America’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for silver-supplying countries that help satisfy powerful US demand for the precious metal.
Silver Exporting Companies
MINING.com identifies global silver-producing conglomerates that represent the largest players in the worldwide silver market trade. Shown within parenthesis is the country where the company is headquartered.
- BHP Billiton PLC (Australia/United Kingdom)
- Fresnillo PLC (United Kingdom/Mexico)
- Glencore PLC (Switzerland)
- Goldcorp Inc (Canada)
- KGHM Polska Miedź SA (Poland)
- Pan American Silver PLC (Canada)
- Polzmetal International PLC (United Kingdom)
- Tahoe Resources Inc (United States)
- Volcan Compañía Minera SAA (Peru)
According to global trade intelligence firm Zepol, the following companies are also multinational suppliers of silver.
- Doe Run Peru (Peru)
- Silver Wheaton Corp. (Canada)
- Sumitomo Corporation (Japan)
Searchable List of Silver Exporting Countries in 2021
By dollar value, the following 100 countries sold 99.99998% of globally exported silver in 2021.
| Rank | Exporter | Silver Exports (US$) | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hong Kong | $6,707,471,000 | +122.3% |
| 2. | United Kingdom | $3,620,562,000 | -3.6% |
| 3. | China | $3,516,062,000 | +42.4% |
| 4. | United States | $2,823,184,000 | +47.8% |
| 5. | Mexico | $2,543,070,000 | +18% |
| 6. | Germany | $2,217,771,000 | +19% |
| 7. | South Korea | $2,134,451,000 | +30.6% |
| 8. | Japan | $2,098,954,000 | +31% |
| 9. | Switzerland | $1,962,460,000 | +102.3% |
| 10. | Kazakhstan | $1,107,902,000 | +80.5% |
| 11. | Poland | $1,045,929,000 | +21.7% |
| 12. | Canada | $815,892,000 | -12.7% |
| 13. | Russia | $743,197,000 | +76.5% |
| 14. | Taiwan | $606,757,000 | +312.3% |
| 15. | Belgium | $587,945,000 | +21.8% |
| 16. | Italy | $485,666,000 | +37.7% |
| 17. | Sweden | $425,272,000 | +17.2% |
| 18. | Turkey | $348,653,000 | +216.2% |
| 19. | India | $346,115,000 | +115.4% |
| 20. | Spain | $324,056,000 | +119.4% |
| 21. | Chile | $316,749,000 | +26.3% |
| 22. | Peru | $231,685,000 | +39% |
| 23. | Australia | $231,611,000 | +50.6% |
| 24. | Uzbekistan | $180,850,000 | +55.7% |
| 25. | Thailand | $172,037,000 | +23.8% |
| 26. | Argentina | $166,718,000 | +131.9% |
| 27. | Bolivia | $149,097,000 | +25.1% |
| 28. | Singapore | $137,370,000 | +29.8% |
| 29. | France | $136,406,000 | +40% |
| 30. | Indonesia | $118,860,000 | +2.6% |
| 31. | Morocco | $111,495,000 | +7.9% |
| 32. | Netherlands | $67,122,000 | -0.9% |
| 33. | Austria | $64,904,000 | +109.6% |
| 34. | United Arab Emirates | $57,411,000 | -33.9% |
| 35. | Papua New Guinea | $45,291,000 | -24.8% |
| 36. | Bulgaria | $39,331,000 | +102.1% |
| 37. | Czech Republic | $39,262,000 | +58.6% |
| 38. | Hungary | $30,496,000 | +33.6% |
| 39. | South Africa | $22,337,000 | +100.5% |
| 40. | Nicaragua | $22,198,000 | +49.6% |
| 41. | Norway | $13,567,000 | +93% |
| 42. | Malaysia | $10,867,000 | -58.6% |
| 43. | Philippines | $10,383,000 | +826.2% |
| 44. | Serbia | $8,854,000 | -16.2% |
| 45. | Israel | $8,473,000 | +12.7% |
| 46. | Denmark | $8,017,000 | +33% |
| 47. | Burkina Faso | $7,226,000 | +8.4% |
| 48. | Greece | $6,536,000 | +11.5% |
| 49. | Egypt | $6,215,000 | +38.9% |
| 50. | Brazil | $5,920,000 | +127.9% |
| 51. | Colombia | $5,156,000 | +85% |
| 52. | Tajikistan | $4,804,000 | +127.5% |
| 53. | Tokelau | $4,277,000 | -74.7% |
| 54. | Estonia | $3,060,000 | +201.5% |
| 55. | Slovenia | $3,016,000 | +78.9% |
| 56. | Lebanon | $2,712,000 | +101.9% |
| 57. | Slovakia | $2,468,000 | +25% |
| 58. | Iraq | $2,320,000 | -55.8% |
| 59. | Azerbaijan | $2,206,000 | -10.7% |
| 60. | Saudi Arabia | $2,076,000 | -11.9% |
| 61. | Ireland | $2,004,000 | +742% |
| 62. | Lithuania | $1,985,000 | +4.3% |
| 63. | Mongolia | $1,933,000 | -10.7% |
| 64. | Portugal | $1,697,000 | -28.5% |
| 65. | Jordan | $1,656,000 | +645.9% |
| 66. | Finland | $1,484,000 | +270.1% |
| 67. | Dominican Rep | $1,383,000 | +12.7% |
| 68. | New Zealand | $1,359,000 | +68.2% |
| 69. | Antigua/Barbuda | $1,309,000 | 0% |
| 70. | Ecuador | $748,000 | -19% |
| 71. | Panama | $694,000 | +548.6% |
| 72. | Fiji | $569,000 | +76.2% |
| 73. | Croatia | $568,000 | +8.8% |
| 74. | Honduras | $541,000 | -1.5% |
| 75. | Libya | $508,000 | -92.3% |
| 76. | Senegal | $497,000 | -17.2% |
| 77. | Vietnam | $297,000 | -75.6% |
| 78. | Kenya | $178,000 | -23.3% |
| 79. | Ivory Coast | $167,000 | 0% |
| 80. | Cyprus | $162,000 | +3.8% |
| 81. | Ghana | $126,000 | -65.9% |
| 82. | Albania | $115,000 | 0% |
| 83. | Afghanistan | $80,000 | +29% |
| 84. | Sri Lanka | $80,000 | 0% |
| 85. | Luxembourg | $68,000 | -76.5% |
| 86. | Costa Rica | $60,000 | -77.9% |
| 87. | Saint Helena | $59,000 | 0% |
| 88. | Mali | $52,000 | -78% |
| 89. | Malta | $35,000 | +1066.7% |
| 90. | Cuba | $27,000 | +42.1% |
| 91. | Qatar | $13,000 | 0% |
| 92. | Rwanda | $11,000 | 0% |
| 93. | Latvia | $11,000 | +266.7% |
| 94. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $10,000 | +900% |
| 95. | Cook Islands | $9,000 | 0% |
| 96. | Ukraine | $7,000 | +250% |
| 97. | North Macedonia | $4,000 | 0% |
| 98. | Eswatini | $4,000 | 0% |
| 99. | Curaçao | $4,000 | 0% |
| 100. | El Salvador | $3,000 | 0% |
Expanding the scope of our analysis to the top 100 silver exporters, the fastest gainers were Malta (up 1,067% from 2020), Bosnia and Herzegovina (up 900%), Philippines (up 826.2%), Ireland (up 742%), Jordan (up 645.9%) then Panama (up 548.6%).
Posting the severest declines year over year were Libya (down -92.3%), Mali (down -78%), Costa Rica (down -77.9%), Luxembourg (down -76.5%) and Vietnam (down -75.6%).
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 2020 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 June 18, 2022
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 18, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 18, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 18, 2022
MINING.com, We are the world’s largest silver producer: KGHM (May 7, 2017). Accessed on June 18, 2022
Wikipedia, Category: Silver mining companies. Accessed on June 18, 2022
Zepol’s company summary highlights by HTS code. Accessed on June 18, 2022
