In 2019, silver has outperformed itself, spending the majority of the year trading at prices higher than those seen in 2018, despite a slight year-over-year decrease in consumption. And, according to market watchers, there is more room for the precious metal to go. “It’s well known … how silver tends to lag gold. Silver Series Part 3: The World’s Growing Demand For Silver. Silver is the most versatile metal in the world. Not only does it have the highest thermal and electrical conductivity of all metals, but it also has many other impressive properties: silver is antibacterial, durable, reflective, and malleable. The total supply of new silver each year is close to 1 billion ounces. Annual gold supply is currently around 120 million ounces. This makes it seem like the silver market is 8 times bigger than gold.