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
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.
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.
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.