Silver Prices Surge 69 Percent, What Is Driving Its Performance?
Amid a continuing global precious metals rally, silver is beginning to garner greater attention as it possesses fundamentals and price movement characteristics distinct from gold. JustMarkets assesses that the silver instrument (XAG/USD) is now increasingly attracting market participants’ interest. The firm believes silver is no longer merely a complement to gold but has fundamental factors and price movement characteristics that make it worth examining separately by traders and investors.
Global silver prices have surged around 69 percent year-on-year and briefly strengthened by more than 10 percent in just the first week of August 2026, according to TradingEconomics data—far exceeding the rise in gold prices, which was recorded at around 30 percent over the same period. In the domestic market, the price of Antam silver bullion also jumped from Rp 39,450 to Rp 44,100 per gram in less than two weeks, according to official data from Logam Mulia.
According to the World Silver Survey 2026 published by the Silver Institute in collaboration with consultants Metals Focus, the global silver market recorded a supply deficit for five consecutive years through 2025. This condition is expected to continue in 2026, marking the sixth year, with a deficit potentially reaching around 46.3 million ounces. Demand for silver in the form of coins and bars was recorded to have jumped 14 percent throughout 2025, while industrial demand—from solar panels, electric vehicles, to power grid infrastructure and AI data centres—remains a structural support for silver commodity demand.
“Silver is currently at a rare intersection: strong investment demand meets a structural supply deficit that has been ongoing for six consecutive years. For traders and investors, this combination creates interesting price dynamics, especially because silver tends to have larger movements compared to gold in the short and medium term,” said Niyas Yessengarayev, Regional Marketing Team Lead (APAC), JustMarkets, in a statement on Wednesday (12/8/2026).
He added that investors need to understand silver’s dual character. “The silver commodity moves like gold when the market seeks protection from uncertain economic and geopolitical conditions, but it also moves like an industrial commodity when manufacturing data and clean technology demand strengthen. The combination of these two characteristics means silver needs to be viewed from a different perspective, not merely following gold’s movement,” he said.