The silver renaissance

How scarcity, demand, and volatility are establishing silver as one of the world's most indispensable metals

- Ahmed Bin Sulayem

As of mid-February 2026, the silver market has completed a clear transition from a cyclical precious metal to a structurally scarce strategic asset. -- KT FILE PHOTO

(KT FILE PHOTO)

For decades, silver lived in the long shadow of its yellow sibling. Within the context of global finance, gold was the undisputed king and the ultimate hedge against the systemic frailties of fiat currency.

Silver, by contrast, was often dismissed as its volatile relative, prone to wild swings, treated as a byproduct, and relegated to the periphery of institutional portfolios. Today, that narrative is changing.

As of mid-February 2026, the silver market has completed a clear transition from a cyclical precious metal to a structurally scarce strategic asset. This industrial renaissance is visible in the hard evidence of supply and demand, illustrated by a 95-million-ounce deficit in 2025 that marked the fifth consecutive annual shortfall. For the period between 2021 and 2025, the cumulative deficit reached nearly 820 million ounces, a figure that remarkably exceeds an entire year's worth of global mine production, and has subsequently forced the market to cannibalise above-ground reserves to bridge the gap. With the Silver Institute's February 2026 outlook now confirming a sixth consecutive deficit of 67 million ounces on the horizon, the market has entered an era of persistent structural undersupply.