India’s dependence on Chinese silver imports is rising. A commodity trade is becoming a strategic concern

India’s position mirrors a broader global trend.

• India now imports over 40% of its silver from China, up from 25% in 2014.
• China's silver supply dominance poses strategic risks for India and others.
• Silver demand for solar, electronics rises, increasing impact of supply issues

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China’s tightening grip on global silver supplies is emerging as a strategic risk for India, which now sources more than 40 percent of its silver imports from China from about a third in 2019 and a quarter a decade ago.

The dependence has increased since the Covid pandemic, indicating a structural reliance rather than a temporary supply-chain disruption, even as silver becomes increasingly important to India’s economy.

China’s share in India’s silver imports hovered around 34-35 percent between 2013 and 2019. That reliance jumped above 44 percent during 2020-21, when pandemic-related disruptions forced many countries to realign supply chains, and has remained elevated since. The latest rise to 42.2 percent in 2025 suggests that India has not meaningfully diversified its sourcing, even as silver’s importance to the economy has grown.

Not just India

India’s position mirrors a broader global trend. Several economies have become increasingly dependent on Chinese silver supplies. Thailand sourced over 41 percent of its silver from China in 2024, while the UK’s dependence stood at around 36 percent. Across Asia, countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Macao show similar exposure, while even established trading hubs like Switzerland and Turkey reflect a significant Chinese footprint in their silver imports. The concentration highlights China’s central role in a market that is quietly becoming more strategic by the year.

Solar and silver

What makes this dependence more consequential today is the changing nature of silver demand. No longer confined to jewellery, photography and investment, silver has become a critical industrial input. Its use in photovoltaic cells has risen sharply, with the share of global demand from solar manufacturing climbing from under 10 percent earlier in the decade to about 17 percent by 2025. At the same time, electrical and electronics applications consistently account for roughly a quarter of total demand. Together, these segments now dominate consumption, ensuring that any disruption in supply would quickly spill over into renewable energy, electronics manufacturing and broader industrial activity.

Silver is central to the country’s solar ambitions, its electrical equipment supply chain and a wide range of industrial processes. These uses sit alongside traditional demand from jewellery, coins and investment, which still accounts for close to 39 percent of global silver consumption. The combination of rising industrial reliance and concentrated sourcing means that price shocks or export curbs could have far-reaching consequences, well beyond the bullion market.

As China tightens control over strategic materials, silver risks becoming the next pressure point for countries.