Silver’s immense rally throughout 2025 will continue into the new year, according to a new poll of retail investors. The precious metal is already trading for a staggering US$79 per ounce, up from a mere US$29 per coin in January.
On Saturday, precious metals retailer and commodities expert Kitco released the results of its Annual Silver Survey. It determined that 57 per cent of retail investors think silver will climb even higher and reach US$100 per ounce in 2026. A total of 212 participated in the polling.
The survey results build on previous findings about silver released by Kitco last week. Notably, the bullion trading media company has determined that retail investors believe silver will be the best performing metal of 2026. Kitco revealed on Dec. 20 that 51 per cent of the 352 respondents from its Kitco News Top Metals 2026 Survey think this. Meanwhile, 29 per cent say gold will lead the pack and the other 21 per cent believe copper (11 per cent) and platinum (10 per cent) will.
“The Kitco News Top Metals 2026 Survey showed retail traders fully on board the silver bandwagon with gold still seeing strong support,” said Kitco market reporter Ernest Hoffman, “while industry experts also see potential for platinum prices to outperform next year.”
Despite this outlook and the sentiment among the majority of participants, Kitco’s Senior Market Analyst Jim Wyckoff has predicted that 2026 will not yield the percentage gains observed throughout this year.
“While the silver market in 2026 is forecast to remain strong, driven by soaring industrial demand and tightening supplies, it’s doubtful the new year will see the 130 per cent price gain for silver that was seen in 2025,” he explained.
Nonetheless, Wyckoff says certain market observers believe the precious metal will remain elevated above US$75 or potentially ascend to the US$100 mark over the next 12 months. He is of the opinion that elevated demand for clean tech, EVs and AI data centres should help keep prices high.
Credit: Kitco
Certain speculators are much more bullish
In an interview with Kitco earlier this year, renowned billionaire mining investor Eric Sprott said that silver was a long way from reaching its peak. His predictions have partially come true since that time and he thinks the rally will persist.
“I think silver’s gonna skyrocket,” he explained in a March interview with mining reporter Paul Harris.
Sprott said predictions he had heard from other speculators about the commodity hitting US$250 to US$500 per ounce were “entirely possible” and that the metal was bound to soar. It was worth US$33 at the time and has more than doubled in value since.
Eric Sprott’s outlook about the metal was clearly demonstrated earlier this month when he agreed to take approximately 9.6 per cent of Apollo Silver Corp‘s (CVE: APGO) (OTCMKTS: APGOF) (FRA: 6ZF) outstanding shares (on an undiluted basis).
Michael Oliver, founder of research firm Momentum Structural Analysis, also shares his bullish outlook on silver. He predicted in late November that it could hit US$200 an ounce next year.
Read more: The Silver Institute predicts robust demand for silver going forward
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