Silver had a historic run late last week in what has been a record year for precious metals, rising nearly 10% on Friday alone and smashing through record prices by surpassing the $78 mark for the first time ever.

Even after a 7 percent drop, silver is up more than 155 percent this year, outperforming gold by a wide margin.

Investors in silver should brace themselves for a pullback following the biggest annual gain since the Carter administration, according to one recent reading based on historic price data.

Check the latest silver price on January 05, 2026. Get updated 1gm and 1 kg rates for Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, and other major cities.

According to Statista, global silver supply stands at around 1 billion ounces. Analysts estimate that supply deficits of 115 million to 120 million ounces this year are straining global inventories, as mine production fails to meet consumption for a fifth consecutive year.

Experts expect silver prices to shift further in 2026 as demand and inflation further impact precious metal prices.

Silver's blistering rally has thrilled traders, but the speed and character of the move are starting to flash the kind of warnings that usually appear near market peaks. I see three specific red flags,

Silver prices rose as high as $84 an ounce as talk of an arbitrage play on China's pure-play silver fund gained traction on social media.

Several posts and market reports suggest that China and the UAE are aggressively upselling silver amid a supply shock, with retail prices reportedly ranging between $86 and $100 per ounce at local shops. Amid supply constraints and price jumps in physical silver, interest in on-chain tokenized silver is accelerating.

Silver's addition to the USGS Critical Minerals lists makes it the subject of top priority US policies for supply chain and domestic production.

After each significant upward movement, silver prices flattened out or even experienced a major decline, most spectacularly starting 1980 when prices crumbled and were still at $4 in 2004, a 90% decline 25 years after the peak! This boils down to one fundamental characteristic about silver.