Silver vs Gold: Silver Is 1.8 Times as Volatile

Silver swings about 1.8 times as much as gold. Volatility is the typical size of a price's daily moves, scaled to a year, so a higher figure means bigger swings. SLV (the silver ETF, a fund that tracks the silver price) had a volatility of 33.4%, against 18.4% for GLD (the gold ETF).

Silver's worst fall, the biggest drop from a closing high to a later closing low, was 76.3%. Gold's was 45.6%. Both figures cover 28 April 2006 to 10 November 2026.

SLV is the iShares Silver Trust. GLD is SPDR Gold Shares, run by State Street Global Advisors. Each is an exchange-traded fund (ETF), a fund whose shares trade on a stock exchange like a stock. Each holds metal bars, called bullion. Each aims to follow the metal's price.

iShares states that SLV seeks to track the price of silver bullion, with a yearly fee of 0.50% of the fund's assets, which iShares calls the sponsor fee. SPDR states that GLD's objective is to reflect the price of gold bullion less its expenses, with yearly costs of 0.40% of assets, its gross expense ratio.

We read both issuer pages on 11 November 2026.

We wrote this on 11 November 2026, using closing prices to 10 November 2026. Our price history for both starts on 28 April 2006, giving 5,167 trading days over 20.5 years.

We explain gold funds in How Do Gold ETFs Work? and the price drivers in What Drives the Gold Price?.

Gold ended well ahead. $10,000 in GLD on 28 April 2006 became $56,746 by 10 November 2026. The same sum in SLV became $33,652.

The compound annual rate is the single yearly return that gives the same ending sum. It was 8.82% for GLD and 6.09% for SLV. Chart 1 shows both paths.

Silver's line rose faster than gold's in 2009, 2010, 2020, and 2025, the four years it beat gold by the widest margin (each over 20 percentage points).

Both funds hit their highest closes in January 2026. On 10 November 2026, SLV closed 56.0% below its 28 January 2026 high, while GLD closed 25.5% below its 29 January 2026 high.

Over the full window, silver was 1.8 times as volatile. SLV's volatility was 33.4% and GLD's was 18.4%. SPY (the S&P 500 ETF), with dividends counted, was 19.3%, so gold sat close to the stock market and silver sat well above it.

The big days show the same gap. Of 5,166 daily changes, SLV fell by 5% or more on 89 days and rose by 5% or more on 79. GLD fell by 5% or more on 13 days and rose by 5% or more on 4.

The worst fall is the deepest drop from a previous closing high to a later closing low, searched over the whole window. For SLV, it was 76.3%, from 28 April 2011 to 18 March 2020. For GLD, it was 45.6%, from 22 August 2011 to 17 December 2015. SPY's was 55.2%.

Chart 2 shows volatility and worst fall for SLV, GLD, and SPY.

SLV took 14.5 years from its April 2011 high to close at or above it again, on 13 October 2025. GLD took 8.9 years from its August 2011 high, to 29 July 2020. Chart 3 shows how far each sat below its previous high through the window.

SLV's line sits far below GLD's after 2011.

They do, but silver moves further. The daily correlation between SLV and GLD was 0.80, where 1.00 means the two always move in step. A straight-line fit gives a slope of 1.45, so SLV moved 1.45% on average for each 1% that GLD moved.

Silver beat gold in 7 of the 21 calendar years in the table (2006 and 2026 are part years). Those years are 2009, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2022, and 2025. Gold rose in all of those years except 2022.

The table lists each calendar year's return for SLV and GLD, with the leading fund named.

Calendar-year return of each ETF, from the last close of the year before to the last close of the year. 2006 starts at the 28 April 2006 close and 2026 ends at the 10 November 2026 close. Neither fund paid a dividend. Source: YX Insights price data

The Which led column names the fund with the higher return that year.

Gold fell in 8 of the 21 years. Silver fell by more in 7 of those 8. Gold rose in the other 13 years. Silver rose by more in 6 of them.

In 2025, SLV rose 144.7% and GLD rose 63.7%. In 2026 to 10 November, SLV fell 27.8% and GLD fell 6.8%.

A rolling window is a stretch of 252 daily changes, about a year, that starts on a different day each time. Silver beat gold in 1,759 of 4,915 such windows, or 35.8%.

Silver was the more volatile of the two in all 4,915 windows. Its volatility ran from 1.37 times gold's in the window ending 28 June 2016 to 2.79 times in the window ending 5 August 2011. The median was 1.68 times.

The gold-silver ratio normally compares the price of an ounce of gold with the price of an ounce of silver. We built an ETF version, GLD's share price divided by SLV's share price. It is not the ounce-price ratio.

The ratio started at 4.71 on 28 April 2006. It fell to 3.17 on 28 April 2011, the day SLV began its worst fall. It rose to 12.55 on 18 March 2020, the day that fall ended. It stood at 7.95 on 10 November 2026, against a median of 7.18.

A rising ETF ratio means GLD's price gained on SLV's.

Our prices show the size of the gap, but they cannot show its cause. One fact from the industry fits the pattern.

Silver has wide industrial uses. The Silver Institute reports record industrial demand in 2024, within total silver demand of 1.16 billion ounces. iShares lists an economic downturn as a risk to silver demand.

How gold behaved when stocks fell is in Is Gold a Safe Haven?.

The test covers two funds over one 20.5-year window that starts on 28 April 2006. The funds charge fees of 0.50% and 0.40% a year, so their prices trail the metals' prices.

Every figure describes the past. None is a forecast.

Silver. It was the more volatile in every one-year window we tested. Its worst fall was the deeper. Gold returned more over the full window. Silver led in 7 of 21 calendar years. Gold still rose in 6 of those 7.

For gold set against another asset, see Gold vs Bitcoin. GLD is among the funds our Multi-model Signals cover.

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Silver's wide industrial use is one candidate reason, but our prices cannot prove the cause. The Silver Institute reports record industrial demand for silver in 2024. iShares lists an economic downturn as a risk to silver demand. SLV's volatility was 33.4% against 18.4% for GLD from 2006 to 2026.

On volatility, worst fall, and recovery time, silver carried more risk between 28 April 2006 and 10 November 2026. SLV's volatility was 33.4% against 18.4% for GLD. Its worst fall from a high was 76.3% against 45.6%. Silver also took 14.5 years to recover from its April 2011 high.

Yes. Silver beat gold in 7 of 21 calendar years between 2006 and 2026. It also won 35.8% of one-year stretches of 252 daily changes. In 2025, SLV rose 144.7% and GLD rose 63.7%. Over the full 20.5 years, GLD's $56,746 finished ahead of SLV's $33,652 from the same $10,000.

It is the price of an ounce of gold divided by the price of an ounce of silver. We use an ETF version, GLD's share price divided by SLV's. That version stood at 7.95 on 10 November 2026. Its median since 28 April 2006 was 7.18. It is not comparable with the ounce-price ratio.

DISCLAIMER: This article is intended for educational purposes only. Any information or analysis in this note does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Nothing in this note is intended to be investment advice, nor should it be relied upon to make investment decisions. Any opinions, analyses, or probabilities expressed in this note are those of the author as of the note's date of publication and are subject to change without notice.