Symbolized as Ag, silver has the atomic number 47 and is a chemical element. It is the most electrically and thermally efficient and the most reflective of all metals.
There are several different ways to get your hands on silver: as an alloy with gold and other metals, in minerals like argentite, and in pure elemental form. As a byproduct of the mining process, it is mostly derived from lead-zinc, copper, and gold ores.
Precious silver has a wide range of applications. There are several uses for sterling silver, 92.5 percent of which is silver, including jewelry and silverware. Silver is also used to produce mirrors because of its reflectivity.
Silver bromide and iodide, which have a great sensitivity to light, are also used in photography and x-ray films. In digital photography, silver salts are still utilized to make high-quality photographs.
Solar panels, water filtration, decorations, electrical connections and conductors, and as a colorant in stained glass are only some of the other applications.
Many bullion coins are also made of silver, occasionally combined with gold. For more than 4,000 years, it has been seen as a store of wealth. Using the silver standard means that the national currency is backed by actual silver.
The silver standard establishes a fixed exchange rate between national currency and silver to facilitate currency conversions.
The goal of the silver standard is to retain the buying power of a national currency. All nations that have utilized the silver standard have done so, except China and Hong Kong, which abolished it in 1935. As a result, all nations adopted the gold standard, which was abandoned later in the century by most.
For the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, The Silver Institute produces silver that may be utilized in renewable energy and electric cars. Chemical and textile manufacturers may benefit from the metal’s antibacterial qualities in water treatment and medicinal applications.
Production of Silver Around the World
In 2019, the world’s silver output was expected to be at 27,000 metric tonnes. According to the Silver Institute, the fourth year in a row that worldwide mine output decreased by 1.3%, and primary silver production plummeted by 3.8 percent.
Peru had the highest reductions, followed by Mexico and Indonesia in order of magnitude. While output in certain nations increased (such as Argentina, Australia, and the United States), other countries suffered a decrease. The world’s top 10 producers of silver are:
- Mexico – 6,120 tons
- Peru – 4,160 tons
- China – 3,570 tons
- Russia – 2,100 tons
- Poland – 1,470 tons
- Chile – 1,370 tons
- Bolivia – 1,190 tons
- Australia – 1,220 tons
- Argentina – 1,020 tons
- United States – 930 tons
Country | 2022 Population |
---|---|
Vatican City | 0.7990 |
Tokelau | 1.3780 |
Niue | 1.6220 |
Falkland Islands | 3.5390 |
Montserrat | 4.9650 |
Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 5.7590 |
Saint Barthelemy | 9.9450 |
Nauru | 10.9030 |
Wallis and Futuna | 10.9820 |
Tuvalu | 12.0660 |
Anguilla | 15.2300 |
Cook Islands | 17.5710 |
Palau | 18.2330 |
British Virgin Islands | 30.5960 |
Gibraltar | 33.7040 |
San Marino | 34.0850 |
Liechtenstein | 38.3870 |
Saint Martin | 39.7300 |
Turks and Caicos Islands | 39.7410 |
Monaco | 39.7830 |
Sint Maarten | 43.9660 |
Faroe Islands | 49.2330 |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 53.8710 |
American Samoa | 55.0300 |
Greenland | 56.9730 |
Northern Mariana Islands | 58.2690 |
Marshall Islands | 60.0570 |
Bermuda | 61.9390 |
Cayman Islands | 67.2770 |
Dominica | 72.3440 |
Andorra | 77.4630 |
Isle of Man | 85.7320 |
Seychelles | 99.4260 |
Antigua and Barbuda | 99.5090 |
United States Virgin Islands | 103.9710 |
Aruba | 107.6090 |
Tonga | 107.7490 |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 111.5510 |
Grenada | 113.4750 |
Micronesia | 117.4890 |
Kiribati | 123.4190 |
Curacao | 165.5290 |
Guam | 171.5190 |
Saint Lucia | 185.1130 |
Samoa | 202.2390 |
Sao Tome and Principe | 227.6790 |
French Polynesia | 284.1640 |
Mayotte | 286.2590 |
Barbados | 288.0230 |
New Caledonia | 290.9150 |
French Guiana | 314.1690 |
Vanuatu | 321.8320 |
Iceland | 345.3930 |
Martinique | 374.0870 |
Guadeloupe | 399.7940 |
Bahamas | 400.5160 |
Belize | 412.1900 |
Malta | 444.0330 |
Brunei | 445.4310 |
Maldives | 540.9850 |
Cape Verde | 567.6780 |
Suriname | 596.8310 |
Western Sahara | 626.1610 |
Montenegro | 627.9500 |
Luxembourg | 642.3710 |
Macau | 667.4900 |
Solomon Islands | 721.1590 |
Bhutan | 787.9410 |
Guyana | 794.0450 |
Comoros | 907.4190 |
Reunion | 908.0610 |
Fiji | 909.4660 |
Djibouti | 1016.0970 |
Eswatini | 1184.8170 |
Cyprus | 1223.3870 |
Mauritius | 1274.7270 |
Estonia | 1321.9100 |
Timor-Leste | 1369.4290 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 1406.5850 |
Equatorial Guinea | 1496.6620 |
Bahrain | 1783.9830 |
Latvia | 1848.8370 |
Guinea-Bissau | 2063.3670 |
Slovenia | 2078.0340 |
North Macedonia | 2081.3040 |
Lesotho | 2175.6990 |
Gabon | 2331.5330 |
Botswana | 2441.1620 |
Gambia | 2558.4820 |
Namibia | 2633.8740 |
Lithuania | 2661.7080 |
Puerto Rico | 2829.8120 |
Albania | 2866.3740 |
Armenia | 2971.9660 |
Qatar | 2979.9150 |
Jamaica | 2985.0940 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3249.3170 |
Mongolia | 3378.0780 |
Uruguay | 3496.0160 |
Eritrea | 3662.2440 |
Georgia | 3968.7380 |
Moldova | 4013.1710 |
Croatia | 4059.2860 |
Kuwait | 4380.3260 |
Panama | 4446.9640 |
New Zealand | 4898.2030 |
Mauritania | 4901.9810 |
Central African Republic | 5016.6780 |
Ireland | 5020.1990 |
Costa Rica | 5182.3540 |
Liberia | 5305.1170 |
Oman | 5323.9930 |
Palestine | 5345.5410 |
Slovakia | 5460.1930 |
Norway | 5511.3700 |
Finland | 5554.9600 |
Republic of the Congo | 5797.8050 |
Denmark | 5834.9500 |
Singapore | 5943.5460 |
Turkmenistan | 6201.9430 |
El Salvador | 6550.3890 |
Lebanon | 6684.8490 |
Kyrgyzstan | 6728.2710 |
Nicaragua | 6779.1000 |
Bulgaria | 6844.5970 |
Libya | 7040.7450 |
Paraguay | 7305.8430 |
Laos | 7481.0230 |
Hong Kong | 7604.2990 |
Sierra Leone | 8306.4360 |
Serbia | 8653.0160 |
Togo | 8680.8370 |
Switzerland | 8773.6370 |
Israel | 8922.8920 |
Austria | 9066.7100 |
Papua New Guinea | 9292.1690 |
Belarus | 9432.8000 |
Hungary | 9606.2590 |
Tajikistan | 9957.4640 |
United Arab Emirates | 10081.7850 |
Portugal | 10140.5700 |
Sweden | 10218.9710 |
Honduras | 10221.2470 |
Azerbaijan | 10300.2050 |
Jordan | 10300.8690 |
Greece | 10316.6370 |
Czech Republic | 10736.7840 |
Dominican Republic | 11056.3700 |
Cuba | 11305.6520 |
South Sudan | 11618.5110 |
Belgium | 11668.2780 |
Haiti | 11680.2830 |
Bolivia | 11992.6560 |
Tunisia | 12046.6560 |
Burundi | 12624.8400 |
Benin | 12784.7260 |
Rwanda | 13600.4640 |
Guinea | 13865.6910 |
Zimbabwe | 15331.4280 |
Somalia | 16841.7950 |
Cambodia | 17168.6390 |
Netherlands | 17211.4470 |
Chad | 17413.5800 |
Senegal | 17653.6710 |
Ecuador | 18113.3610 |
Guatemala | 18584.0390 |
Romania | 19031.3350 |
Kazakhstan | 19205.0430 |
Chile | 19250.1950 |
Syria | 19364.8090 |
Zambia | 19470.2340 |
Malawi | 20180.8390 |
Mali | 21473.7640 |
Sri Lanka | 21575.8420 |
Burkina Faso | 22102.8380 |
Taiwan | 23888.5950 |
North Korea | 25990.6790 |
Australia | 26068.7920 |
Niger | 26083.6600 |
Ivory Coast | 27742.2980 |
Cameroon | 27911.5480 |
Madagascar | 29178.0770 |
Venezuela | 29266.9910 |
Nepal | 30225.5820 |
Yemen | 31154.8670 |
Ghana | 32395.4500 |
Mozambique | 33089.4610 |
Malaysia | 33181.0720 |
Peru | 33684.2080 |
Uzbekistan | 34382.0840 |
Angola | 35027.3430 |
Saudi Arabia | 35844.9090 |
Poland | 37739.7850 |
Morocco | 37772.7560 |
Canada | 38388.4190 |
Afghanistan | 40754.3880 |
Iraq | 42164.9650 |
Ukraine | 43192.1220 |
Algeria | 45350.1480 |
Sudan | 45992.0200 |
Argentina | 46010.2340 |
Spain | 46719.1420 |
Uganda | 48432.8630 |
South Korea | 51329.8990 |
Colombia | 51512.7620 |
Myanmar | 55227.1430 |
Kenya | 56215.2210 |
Italy | 60262.7700 |
South Africa | 60756.1350 |
Tanzania | 63298.5500 |
France | 65584.5180 |
United Kingdom | 68497.9070 |
Thailand | 70078.2030 |
Germany | 83883.5960 |
Turkey | 85561.9760 |
Iran | 86022.8370 |
DR Congo | 95240.7920 |
Vietnam | 98953.5410 |
Egypt | 106156.6920 |
Philippines | 112508.9940 |
Ethiopia | 120812.6980 |
Japan | 125584.8380 |
Mexico | 131562.7720 |
Russia | 145805.9470 |
Bangladesh | 167885.6890 |
Brazil | 215353.5930 |
Nigeria | 216746.9340 |
Pakistan | 229488.9940 |
Indonesia | 279134.5050 |
United States | 334805.2690 |
India | 1406631.7760 |
China | 1448471.4000 |
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