That dollar value of silver exports fell by an average -10.4% for all exporting countries since 2015 when silver shipments were valued at $23.4 billion. Year over year, globally exported silver dropped by -7.8% from 2018 to 2019.
Among continents, suppliers located in Asia sold the highest dollar worth of silver on international markets in 2019 with shipments amounting to $6.4 billion or 32.5% of worldwide silver exports. In second place were European exporters at 32.5% compared to the 21.7% in shipments that originated from North America. Smaller percentages came from providers in Latin America (5.8%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, trailed by Oceania (0.9%) led by Australia and Papua New Guinea, then Africa (0.6%).
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
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of silver during 2019.
- Mexico: US$1.8 billion (11.1% of total silver exports)
- Hong Kong: $1.6 billion (9.5%)
- China: $1.4 billion (8.1%)
- Germany: $1.3 billion (7.7%)
- South Korea: $1.28 billion (7.7%)
- Japan: $1.2 billion (7.2%)
- United Kingdom: $1.19 billion (7.2%)
- United States: $1 billion (6%)
- Switzerland: $791.1 million (4.8%)
- Canada: $754 million (4.5%)
- Poland: $729 million (4.4%)
- Argentina: $334.8 million (2%)
- Belgium: $326.5 million (2%)
- Peru: $317.5 million (1.9%)
- Russia: $316.2 million (1.9%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 85.9% of global silver exported in 2019.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of silver since 2015 were: Belgium (up 6,507%), Argentina (up 43.6%), China (up 23.8%) and Peru (up 22.5%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported silver sales were led by: Canada (down -49.7%), United Kingdom (down -37.8%), Switzerland (down -29.2%), Russia (down -28.4%) and the United States (down -20.2%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for silver during 2019. 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.
- Mexico: US$1.8 billion (net export surplus down -2.7% since 2015)
- South Korea: $1.2 billion (up 9.9%)
- Poland: $709 million (down -0.5%)
- Germany: $654.8 million (up 55.5%)
- Hong Kong: $528.7 million (down -32.4%)
- Switzerland: $363.1 million (down -50.6%)
- Argentina: $333.3 million (up 45%)
- Peru: $317 million (up 22.8%)
- Russia: $304 million (down -30.7%)
- China: $287.8 million (down -10.2%)
- Kazakhstan: $277.9 million (down -42.3%)
- Japan: $270.9 million (up 20.7%)
- Belgium: $253.9 million (reversing a -$123.1 million deficit)
- Sweden: $190 million (down -22.9%)
- Chile: $179.9 million (up 3655.6%)
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.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for silver during 2019. 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$3 billion (net export deficit down -29.2% since 2015)
- United States: -$2.2 billion (down -15.4%)
- United Kingdom: -$864.7 million (up 317.1%)
- Thailand: -$442.2 million (down -16.4%)
- Taiwan: -$273.1 million (down -37.5%)
- France: -$185 million (down -6.9%)
- Italy: -$171.5 million (up 33.9%)
- Singapore: -$159.8 million (down -24.5%)
- Turkey: -$159 million (up 58.1%)
- Nepal: -$109.9 million (down -44.4%)
- Brazil: -$66.8 million (down -17%)
- Austria: -$62.7 million (down -62.6%)
- Australia: -$48.2 million (down -65.3%)
- Malaysia: -$37 million (up 24.3%)
- Czech Republic: -$34.9 million (up 2,370%)
India incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of silver. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights India’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for silver-supplying countries that help satisfy powerful Indian demand for the precious metal.
Companies
Silver Exporting Companies
MINING.com identifies global silver-producing conglomerates that represent the largest players in the worldwide silver market trade. Shown within parenthesis is the country where the company is headquartered.
- BHP Billiton PLC (Australia/United Kingdom)
- Fresnillo PLC (United Kingdom/Mexico)
- Glencore PLC (Switzerland)
- Goldcorp Inc (Canada)
- KGHM Polska Miedź SA (Poland)
- Pan American Silver PLC (Canada)
- Polzmetal International PLC (United Kingdom)
- Tahoe Resources Inc (United States)
- Volcan Compañía Minera SAA (Peru)
According to global trade intelligence firm Zepol, the following companies are also multinational suppliers of silver.
- Doe Run Peru (Peru)
- Silver Wheaton Corp. (Canada)
- Sumitomo Corporation (Japan)
Searchable List of Silver Exporting Countries in 2019
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2018 data was unavailable.
| Rank | Exporter | Silver Exports (US$) | 2018-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Mexico | $1,844,939,000 | +4% |
| 2. | Hong Kong | $1,572,558,000 | -28.2% |
| 3. | China | $1,354,816,000 | +8.6% |
| 4. | Germany | $1,281,086,000 | +12.4% |
| 5. | South Korea | $1,278,941,000 | +0% |
| 6. | Japan | $1,197,212,000 | +4.7% |
| 7. | United Kingdom | $1,192,618,000 | -17.7% |
| 8. | United States | $1,003,538,000 | -23.1% |
| 9. | Switzerland | $791,072,000 | -5.3% |
| 10. | Canada | $754,003,000 | -12.3% |
| 11. | Poland | $729,039,000 | +26.1% |
| 12. | Argentina | $334,836,000 | +36.3% |
| 13. | Belgium | $326,529,000 | -19.1% |
| 14. | Peru | $317,483,000 | +58% |
| 15. | Russia | $316,189,000 | -31.2% |
| 16. | Kazakhstan | $278,064,000 | -38.2% |
| 17. | Italy | $247,408,000 | +2.7% |
| 18. | Sweden | $208,253,000 | -19.4% |
| 19. | Chile | $196,037,000 | -22.2% |
| 20. | Uzbekistan | $142,289,000 | +59.2% |
| 21. | Singapore | $140,697,000 | -46.2% |
| 22. | Thailand | $108,988,000 | +64.6% |
| 23. | Bolivia | $99,322,000 | +23.4% |
| 24. | Philippines | $97,130,000 | +16.6% |
| 25. | France | $94,505,000 | +2.1% |
| 26. | Morocco | $93,508,000 | +32.5% |
| 27. | Indonesia | $91,819,000 | -4.5% |
| 28. | Australia | $87,235,000 | -38.9% |
| 29. | Taiwan | $65,525,000 | -71.7% |
| 30. | Papua New Guinea | $54,176,000 | +55.7% |
| 31. | Spain | $53,903,000 | +0% |
| 32. | Netherlands | $48,479,000 | -14% |
| 33. | Austria | $31,832,000 | -3.2% |
| 34. | Turkey | $31,541,000 | +40.9% |
| 35. | Hungary | $19,267,000 | -12.7% |
| 36. | Czech Republic | $18,174,000 | -3.2% |
| 37. | Bulgaria | $16,927,000 | -10% |
| 38. | Dominican Republic | $12,412,000 | +877.3% |
| 39. | India | $11,386,000 | -7.4% |
| 40. | United Arab Emirates | $8,823,000 | -92.6% |
| 41. | South Africa | $8,044,000 | -73% |
| 42. | Serbia | $7,683,000 | +73.9% |
| 43. | Norway | $7,421,000 | +28.3% |
| 44. | Malaysia | $7,328,000 | +180.9% |
| 45. | Israel | $6,201,000 | +11.4% |
| 46. | Denmark | $5,889,000 | +55% |
| 47. | Colombia | $4,437,000 | +75.4% |
| 48. | Kyrgyzstan | $4,337,000 | +5.9% |
| 49. | Slovakia | $3,147,000 | +98.2% |
| 50. | Burkina Faso | $2,961,000 | -4.9% |
| 51. | Slovenia | $2,396,000 | +40% |
| 52. | Brazil | $2,299,000 | +7.4% |
| 53. | Azerbaijan | $1,674,000 | +55% |
| 54. | Tajikistan | $1,622,000 | -17.4% |
| 55. | Lithuania | $1,590,000 | +135.6% |
| 56. | Portugal | $1,112,000 | -29.9% |
| 57. | Greece | $827,000 | -35% |
| 58. | Jordan | $787,000 | -37.8% |
| 59. | Guinea | $739,000 | 0% |
| 60. | Laos | $735,000 | 0% |
| 61. | Estonia | $678,000 | +23% |
| 62. | New Zealand | $552,000 | -94% |
| 63. | Mongolia | $551,000 | -25.6% |
| 64. | Lebanon | $551,000 | -72.1% |
| 65. | Saudi Arabia | $541,000 | +176% |
| 66. | Senegal | $518,000 | +3.4% |
| 67. | Mozambique | $472,000 | 0% |
| 68. | Croatia | $386,000 | +6.6% |
| 69. | Libya | $370,000 | -85.3% |
| 70. | Finland | $369,000 | -21.7% |
| 71. | Panama | $354,000 | -59% |
| 72. | Vietnam | $350,000 | -45% |
| 73. | Fiji | $258,000 | -21.6% |
| 74. | Curaçao | $213,000 | -68.8% |
| 75. | Cyprus | $182,000 | +30.9% |
| 76. | Egypt | $178,000 | -75.2% |
| 77. | Cuba | $172,000 | +29.3% |
| 78. | Nicaragua | $163,000 | -98.4% |
| 79. | Romania | $129,000 | +30.3% |
| 80. | Albania | $124,000 | 0% |
| 81. | Luxembourg | $115,000 | +42% |
| 82. | Costa Rica | $107,000 | -52.2% |
| 83. | Ukraine | $94,000 | +2,250% |
| 84. | Bahrain | $92,000 | 0% |
| 85. | Uruguay | $74,000 | 0% |
| 86. | Ireland | $66,000 | -2.9% |
| 87. | Cayman Islands | $44,000 | +633.3% |
| 88. | Belarus | $26,000 | 0% |
| 89. | Tunisia | $22,000 | +633.3% |
| 90. | Armenia | $11,000 | 0% |
| 91. | Latvia | $11,000 | 0% |
| 92. | Barbados | $10,000 | -66.7% |
| 93. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $7,000 | 0% |
| 94. | Gabon | $7,000 | 0% |
| 95. | Tanzania | $7,000 | 0% |
| 96. | Malta | $4,000 | +300% |
| 97. | El Salvador | $4,000 | 0% |
| 98. | Ethiopia | $3,000 | 0% |
| 99. | Bhutan | $3,000 | 0% |
| 100. | Nepal | $2,000 | 0% |
| 101. | Pakistan | $1,000 | 0% |
| 102. | Qatar | $1,000 | -98.8% |
See also Gold Exports by Country, Platinum Exports by Country and Palladium Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on May 18, 2020
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 18, 2020
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 18, 2020
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 18, 2020
MINING.com, We are the world’s largest silver producer: KGHM (May 7, 2015). Accessed on May 18, 2020
Wikipedia, Category: Silver mining companies. Accessed on May 18, 2020
Zepol’s company summary highlights by HTS code. Accessed on May 18, 2020
