Silver Price in the 2020s
Silver has averaged $26.51 per troy ounce across the completed years of the 2020s, rising from a $20.55 average in 2020 to $40.03 in 2025, a 95 percent gain. The decade has already delivered a $12 pandemic crash, the Reddit squeeze, and the October 2025 break above the 45-year-old $50 record.
2020s Average
$26.51
mean of annual averages
2020 Average
$20.55
decade opening year
2025 Average
$40.03
latest year in the decade
Change 2020 to 2025
+94.8%
annual average basis
Decade High
$40.03
annual average, 2025
Decade Low
$20.55
annual average, 2020
Silver Price by Year in the 2020s
Silver's annual average has risen in five of the six completed years of the 2020s; the 2025 average of $40.03 is the highest nominal annual average on record.
| Year | Avg Price (USD/oz) | YoY Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash to $12; sharp recovery | $20.55 | +26.8% | |
| 2021 Reddit WallStreetBets silver squeeze | $25.14 | +22.3% | |
| 2022 Fed hikes; dollar strength | $21.73 | -13.6% | |
| 2023 Banking crisis; safe-haven flows | $23.35 | +7.5% | |
| 2024 Industrial + investment demand surge | $28.27 | +21.1% | |
| 2025 Silver breaks $50 for the first time since 1980 | $40.03 | +41.6% |
Click any year for that year's full breakdown, including the high, low, and close where daily data exists.
What has happened to the silver price in the 2020s so far?
The decade opened with whiplash. The COVID panic of March 2020 crashed silver to around $12 per ounce before stimulus powered a sharp recovery to a $20.55 annual average. In early 2021, the Reddit WallStreetBets crowd turned on silver in a retail buying wave, and the year averaged $25.14. The Fed's aggressive 2022 hiking cycle then knocked the average back 13.6 percent to $21.73, with 2023's banking-crisis safe-haven flows lifting it to $23.35.
The supply story took over from there. With industrial demand from solar and electronics outrunning mine supply year after year, 2024 averaged $28.27 and 2025 reached $40.03, the highest nominal annual average in silver's recorded history. The defining moment came on October 9, 2025, when silver cleared $50 for the first time since 1980, breaking its 45-year-old record; a parabolic squeeze then carried it to about $121.62 on January 29, 2026 before a sharp correction through the first half of 2026. The decade is still being written; this page updates as each year closes.
Why is silver rising in the 2020s?
The core driver is a structural supply deficit: demand has exceeded mine and recycling supply every year since 2021, drawing down above-ground inventories. Solar photovoltaics alone consume nearly 200 million ounces a year, and the AI data-center and electrification build-out has added a new industrial demand layer with no easy substitute. On top of that sit the familiar macro forces, inflation hedging, safe-haven flows during trade and geopolitical shocks, and gold's parallel record run pulling the gold-silver ratio tighter.
One caveat keeps the record in perspective: even at its $121.62 peak, silver remained below its inflation-adjusted 1980 high of roughly $195 in today's dollars, a comparison detailed on the inflation-adjusted silver price page. The full record timeline lives on the silver all-time high page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did silver finally break $50 in the 2020s?
What was the silver price in 2020?
What is driving silver demand in the 2020s?
Annual averages are LBMA / London fixing prices per troy ounce in US dollars; the current year is excluded until it closes. Inflation comparisons use BLS CPI-U annual averages.