The dollar value for globally exported silver accelerated by an average 86.5% from five years earlier in 2019 when overall silver shipments were valued at $16.4 billion.
Year over year, globally exported silver fell -9.3% compared to $33.6 billion during 2022.
The 5 top silver exporters are Hong Kong, mainland China, United Kingdom, Mexico and Germany. Combined, that quintet of major silver exporters generated well almost half (49.3%) of international silver sales during 2023.
From a continents’ perspective, suppliers located in Asia sold the highest dollar worth of silver on world markets in 2023 with shipments amounting to $14 billion or 45.9% of globally exported silver. In second place were exporters in Europe at 32.6% compared to another 17.3% worth of silver shipments that originated from North America.
Smaller percentages came from providers in Latin America (2.8%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, trailed by Oceania (0.8%) led by Australia and Papua New Guinea, then Africa (0.5%).
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 2023.
- Hong Kong: US$4.7 billion (15.4% of total silver exports)
- mainland China: $3 billion (10%)
- United Kingdom: $2.8 billion (9.2%)
- Mexico: $2.7 billion (8.8%)
- Germany: $1.8 billion (6%)
- South Korea: $1.7 billion (5.5%)
- Switzerland: $1.6 billion (5.2%)
- Japan: $1.5 billion (4.9%)
- United States: $1.4 billion (4.5%)
- Canada: $1.2 billion (4%)
- Poland: $992.4 million (3.3%)
- Italy: $769.7 million (2.5%)
- Türkiye: $692.4 million (2.3%)
- United Arab Emirates: $655.3 million (2.1%)
- Kazakhstan: $642.9 million (2.1%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 85.8% of silver exported worldwide in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing silver exporters since 2022 were: United Arab Emirates (up 551.2%), Italy (up 39.3%), Hong Kong (up 35.6%) and Canada (up 29.3%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported silver sales were: United Kingdom (down -65.6% from 2022), United States of America (down -22.5%), Japan (down -7.9%), Kazakhstan (down -2.6%) and Switzerland (down -1.9%).
Searchable List of Silver Exporting Countries in 2023
By dollar value, the following 100 countries sold 99.9996% of globally exported silver in 2023.
| Rank | Exporter | Silver Exports | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hong Kong | $4,685,799,000 | +35.6% |
| 2. | mainland China | $3,049,759,000 | +10.2% |
| 3. | United Kingdom | $2,807,845,000 | -65.6% |
| 4. | Mexico | $2,681,769,000 | +17.5% |
| 5. | Germany | $1,831,633,000 | +1.2% |
| 6. | South Korea | $1,678,129,000 | +2.9% |
| 7. | Switzerland | $1,599,620,000 | -1.9% |
| 8. | Japan | $1,480,986,000 | -7.9% |
| 9. | United States | $1,382,596,000 | -22.5% |
| 10. | Canada | $1,228,546,000 | +29.3% |
| 11. | Poland | $992,411,000 | +4.7% |
| 12. | Italy | $769,683,000 | +39.3% |
| 13. | Türkiye | $692,370,000 | +0.5% |
| 14. | United Arab Emirates | $655,295,000 | +551.2% |
| 15. | Kazakhstan | $642,911,000 | -2.6% |
| 16. | Russia | $533,339,000 | -41.7% |
| 17. | Taiwan | $522,721,000 | +101.6% |
| 18. | Chile | $505,223,000 | +35.7% |
| 19. | Spain | $350,213,000 | -12.4% |
| 20. | Belgium | $334,983,000 | -34.7% |
| 21. | Sweden | $303,860,000 | -18.8% |
| 22. | Uzbekistan | $217,081,000 | +49.4% |
| 23. | Peru | $203,625,000 | +2.6% |
| 24. | Australia | $155,763,000 | +49.4% |
| 25. | France | $134,430,000 | +5.4% |
| 26. | Morocco | $126,456,000 | +53.1% |
| 27. | Singapore | $121,773,000 | +8.9% |
| 28. | Bolivia | $115,955,000 | +1% |
| 29. | India | $88,570,000 | +89.8% |
| 30. | Austria | $84,672,000 | +21% |
| 31. | Papua New Guinea | $81,240,000 | +83% |
| 32. | Indonesia | $78,490,000 | -19.6% |
| 33. | Netherlands | $58,047,000 | -14.5% |
| 34. | Armenia | $43,142,000 | +3801% |
| 35. | Czech Republic | $42,328,000 | +10.4% |
| 36. | Nicaragua | $28,417,000 | +83.3% |
| 37. | Hungary | $26,764,000 | -13.9% |
| 38. | Bulgaria | $24,010,000 | -58.4% |
| 39. | Norway | $20,388,000 | +11.6% |
| 40. | Slovakia | $17,260,000 | +544.3% |
| 41. | Thailand | $16,743,000 | -86.7% |
| 42. | South Africa | $14,534,000 | -57.7% |
| 43. | Portugal | $10,708,000 | +85.8% |
| 44. | Malaysia | $9,146,000 | -32.7% |
| 45. | Colombia | $6,903,000 | +57.7% |
| 46. | Estonia | $5,918,000 | +154.6% |
| 47. | Burkina Faso | $5,399,000 | +5.1% |
| 48. | Israel | $5,169,000 | +28.1% |
| 49. | Ghana | $4,724,000 | -19.1% |
| 50. | Brazil | $4,684,000 | +17.2% |
| 51. | Denmark | $3,786,000 | -24% |
| 52. | Mongolia | $2,974,000 | +27.3% |
| 53. | Slovenia | $2,900,000 | -8.7% |
| 54. | Egypt | $2,880,000 | -40.3% |
| 55. | Greece | $2,752,000 | -1.9% |
| 56. | Laos | $2,691,000 | -97.7% |
| 57. | Finland | $2,620,000 | +61.6% |
| 58. | Philippines | $2,194,000 | +72.5% |
| 59. | Azerbaijan | $2,107,000 | -44.9% |
| 60. | Vietnam | $1,890,000 | +247.4% |
| 61. | Saudi Arabia | $1,772,000 | -53.4% |
| 62. | Uganda | $1,292,000 | +145.6% |
| 63. | Ireland | $1,023,000 | -46.3% |
| 64. | Jordan | $905,000 | -16.8% |
| 65. | New Zealand | $878,000 | +59.6% |
| 66. | Kyrgyzstan | $794,000 | +46.2% |
| 67. | Lithuania | $784,000 | +49.6% |
| 68. | Dominican Republic | $758,000 | -84.9% |
| 69. | Senegal | $721,000 | -19.7% |
| 70. | Libya | $656,000 | -47.1% |
| 71. | Honduras | $482,000 | 0% |
| 72. | Lebanon | $443,000 | -21.9% |
| 73. | Fiji | $421,000 | +2.4% |
| 74. | Tanzania | $389,000 | -48% |
| 75. | Venezuela | $360,000 | 0% |
| 76. | Mali | $334,000 | 0% |
| 77. | Iraq | $328,000 | -89% |
| 78. | Croatia | $225,000 | -22.7% |
| 79. | Serbia | $211,000 | -95.8% |
| 80. | Luxembourg | $203,000 | -25.1% |
| 81. | Ecuador | $169,000 | -18.4% |
| 82. | Cyprus | $165,000 | -40% |
| 83. | Costa Rica | $152,000 | +245.5% |
| 84. | Curaçao | $151,000 | +7450% |
| 85. | Panama | $86,000 | -18.9% |
| 86. | Vanuatu | $78,000 | 0% |
| 87. | Albania | $55,000 | 0% |
| 88. | Afghanistan | $51,000 | +37.8% |
| 89. | Niue | $26,000 | +116.7% |
| 90. | US Minor Outlying Is | $23,000 | 0% |
| 91. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $22,000 | +100% |
| 92. | Saint Helena | $20,000 | +900% |
| 93. | Cook Islands | $15,000 | 0% |
| 94. | Guatemala | $12,000 | +1100% |
| 95. | Solomon Islands | $9,000 | 0% |
| 96. | Botswana | $8,000 | 0% |
| 97. | El Salvador | $8,000 | -11.1% |
| 98. | Sri Lanka | $8,000 | 0% |
| 99. | Malta | $8,000 | -74.2% |
| 100. | Chad | $5,000 | -99.9% |
Expanding the scope of our analysis to the top 100 silver exporters, the fastest gainers were Curaçao (up 7,450% from 2022), Armenia (up 3,801%), Guatemala (up 1,100%), Saint Helena (up 900%) then the United Arab Emirates (up 551.2%).
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 2022 data was unavailable.
Countries Earning Highest Trade Surpluses from Silver
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for silver during 2023. 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$2.6 billion (net export surplus up 18.8% since 2022)
- Hong Kong: $2 billion (up 93.2%)
- mainland China: $1.9 billion (up 13.2%)
- South Korea: $1.5 billion (up 3.3%)
- Poland: $955.5 million (up 6.4%)
- Germany: $760.4 million (up 131%)
- Kazakhstan: $641.8 million (down -2.4%)
- Russia: $525.2 million (down -42.2%)
- Chile: $501.3 million (up 36.8%)
- Japan: $448.2 million (up 35.2%)
- Switzerland: $392 million (up 36.9%)
- Belgium: $232.6 million (down -46.1%)
- Sweden: $231.5 million (down -33.3%)
- Uzbekistan: $204.3 million (up 54.4%)
- Peru: $202.6 million (up 2.9%)
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 2023. 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$4.7 billion (net export deficit up 29.8% since 2022)
- India: -$2.5 billion (down -60.2%)
- Canada: -$1.2 billion (down -31.6%)
- United Kingdom: -$689.7 million (reversing a $5.9 billion surplus)
- Thailand: -$526.2 million (down -12.3%)
- Türkiye: -$499.1 million (down -40.8%)
- Australia: -$422.4 million (down -32.4%)
- France: -$270.4 million (down -26.5%)
- Austria: -$255.9 million (down -14.7%)
- Bulgaria: -$193 million (up 294.8%)
- Taiwan: -$163.8 million (down -51.3%)
- Italy: -$135.4 million (down -24.6%)
- Singapore: -$130.7 million (up 4.5%)
- Malaysia: -$75.2 million (up 27.2%)
- Dominican Republic: -$57.9 million (up 90.3%)
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)
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 September 9, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 9, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 9, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 9, 2024
MINING.com, We are the world’s largest silver producer: KGHM. Accessed on September 9, 2024
Wikipedia, Category: Silver mining companies. Accessed on September 9, 2024
Zepol’s company summary highlights by HTS code. Accessed on September 9, 2024