The price of silver hit the $75 per ounce mark for the first time on Friday, December 28, capping a year of staggering gains.
This price increase has significantly outperformed its more famous cousin, gold.
While both precious metals posted record price gains, silver’s 161% year-to-date rise eclipsed gold’s 72% rise.
This has prompted analysts to investigate the unique forces fueling the white metal’s meteoric rise.
The concurrent rise in precious metals is largely supported by expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in 2026, a weakening U.S. dollar and geopolitical tensions that are driving demand for safe-haven assets.
But experts suggest a confluence of silver-specific factors that explain its explosive outperformance.
The dual-purpose engine: industrial demand meets financial investment
Silver has a powerful dual potential unlike gold which is above all a monetary and safe haven asset. This characteristic currently plays a fundamental role in the increase in price.
Money is a major element of the global energy transition and technological revolution. Its unrivaled conductivity makes it very important for:
- Solar energy: Photovoltaic cells are a massive and growing source of demand.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI): Data centers associated with electronics rely on Silver.
- Electronic Vehicles (EVs): Electric vehicles also use silver in their critical components such as power electronic inverters, circuitry (PCB), charging ports and battery management systems (BMS).
Additionally, silver benefits from the same macroeconomic factors as gold, i.e. anticipated rate cuts, inflationary concerns and central bank diversification, but with greater volatility.
Another factor is its lower price per ounce, which makes it accessible to more retail investors, some of whom have actively organized on online forums.
Supply struggles and political tailwinds
The increase in demand is compounded by major constraints on the supply side. Years of underinvestment in mineral exploration have limited new supply. Another important factor has been the designation of silver as a critical mineral in the United States, which also adds to its strategic importance, attracting increased policy and investment attention.
Price Forecast: Can the Rally Hold?
For the future, the outlook remains optimistic but divergent. Analysts suggest that factors such as growing uncertainty and inflation could support higher prices in the coming days.
Some experts are also suggesting $80 an ounce for silver before the end of the year, while gold’s next major target is around $4,686.
In short, silver’s extraordinary rise is not just a side effect of gold’s rally. Rather, it is the result of a rare alignment of a combination of factors, notably industrial consumption colliding with a powerful rush to financial investments and safe havens, all against a backdrop of tight supply.
This dual push has positioned the industrial metal, modest in ounces, as the top performer in the 2025 commodities boom.
