Average silver prices increased in 2011 by 74 percent

Last year proved to be sterling for silver, according to recently released figures from the Silver Institute.

Year over year, average silver prices increased in 2011 by 74 percent. Coming in at $35.12 per ounce, silver’s average price last year was more than $14 higher than in 2010, the institute said Wednesday.

“Silver’s strong price performance last year owed much to the strength in investment demand, as well as growth in industrial demand, much of which is relatively price insensitive in the short term,” said Michael DiRienzo, executive director of the Silver Institute, in a statement.

The price of silver has been on the rise since 2001, and average prices nearly doubled between 2008 and 2011. Since 2001, the price has increased by 703 percent.

Last year silver’s price increase outperformed all precious metals, including palladium, gold and platinum, the institute said.

Accord to a November 2011 report commissioned by the Silver Institute and prepared by Thompson Reuters GFMS, silver has been on the rise since Lehman Brothers collapsed. In 2009, silver saw an increase in world investment. In 2010 world investment in the metal reached a high of 9,212 metric tons. By the end of 2010, investments reached 29,000 metric tons.

Despite the yearly increases, silver prices at market end Wednesday took a hit, finishing at $29.14, just four cents above its previous close.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc

Tags: price of silver, Silver, silver analysis, silver futures, silver futures prices, silver news, silver price, silver prices, silver spot, spot silver

Posted by Silver Guru on Jan 5 2012. Filed under Silver Analysis, Silver prices. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry