How much silver is produced in the world each year?
Each year, silver mines produce about 650 million ounces. Approximately 200 million additional ounces come from scrap recycling, and another 100 million ounces from investor or government selling, for a total of about 950 million ounces. Of this, about 42% is consumed by industry, 28% by jewelry, 20% by photography, and 5% consumed in coins and medallions. This consumption adds up to 95% of total available silver each year! Consequently, this leaves only about 5% of the total, or just 47.5 million ounces per year.
