The gold-silver ratio, which measures how many ounces of silver buy one ounce of gold at spot, has moved back above its modern-era range of 40–60:1. In 2020 it hit 123:1 before sliding to about 60:1, alongside a 157% rise in silver from $11.64 to $29.86 between March and August. More recently, it fell from roughly 82:1 in October 2025 to around 46:1 near silver’s $122 peak in January, after having peaked near 105:1 in April 2025. Since June it has mostly traded between 60 and 70:1, but has widened again to about 77:1.
The backdrop includes rising yields and expectations of further Federal Reserve tightening, while gold has found support from central bank buying and Asian demand. Conditions in silver have loosened: London vault inventories were 932m ounces at end-September, a four-year high, while “free-float” stocks were about 267Moz, nearly double October 2025 lows; holdings in physically backed ETPs are down about 60Moz year-to-date. Coin demand also cooled, with Q2 sales down over 80% quarter-on-quarter to the lowest since the survey began in 2010, and still 22% lower year-on-year despite a Q3 rebound; Indian import duties were raised in May. Silver recorded a five-year structural deficit, with last year’s shortfall at 40.2m ounces (1,250.36 tonnes), taking the five-year gap to 716m ounces against 846m ounces of mine output, although forecasts point to a surplus by 2027 and continued linkage to gold over the next 12 months.
Gold-Silver Ratio Developments in October 2026
The gold-silver ratio, which measures how many ounces of silver buy one ounce of gold at spot, has moved back above its modern-era range of 40–60:1. In 2020 it hit 123:1 before sliding to about 60:1, alongside a 157% rise in silver from $11.64 to $29.86 between March and August. More recently, it fell from roughly 82:1 in October 2025 to around 46:1 near silver’s $122 peak in January, after having peaked near 105:1 in April 2025. Since June it has mostly traded between 60 and 70:1, but has widened again to about 77:1.
The backdrop includes rising yields and expectations of further Federal Reserve tightening, while gold has found support from central bank buying and Asian demand.
Silver Inventory and Supply Statistics 2026
Conditions in silver have loosened: London vault inventories were 932m ounces at end-September, a four-year high, while “free-float” stocks were about 267Moz, nearly double October 2025 lows; holdings in physically backed ETPs are down about 60Moz year-to-date. Coin demand also cooled, with Q2 sales down over 80% quarter-on-quarter to the lowest since the survey began in 2010, and still 22% lower year-on-year despite a Q3 rebound; Indian import duties were raised in May. Silver recorded a five-year structural deficit, with last year’s shortfall at 40.2m ounces (1,250.36 tonnes), taking the five-year gap to 716m ounces against 846m ounces of mine output, although forecasts point to a surplus by 2027 and continued linkage to gold over the next 12 months.
