SLV max drawdown: 72.2%
iShares Silver Trust. From its 2011-04-30 peak, SLV fell 72.2% to the 2020-03-31 trough and needed 14.6 years to make a new high (2025-11-30). Computed from 244 months of history starting 2006-04-30, including extended pre-ETF data where available.
Silver, roughly twice the volatility of gold.
SLV drawdown statistics
2011-04-30 peak to 2020-03-31 trough.
New high reached 2025-11-30.
Share of all months spent below a prior high.
Rolling year ending 2013-11-30.
For context, SPY (the S&P 500 baseline) had a maximum drawdown of 50.8% over the same kind of monthly-close analysis.
The biggest SLV drawdowns on record
| Depth | Peak | Trough | Recovered | Peak to trough | Total underwater |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -72.2% | 2011-04-30 | 2020-03-31 | 2025-11-30 | 107 mo | 14.6 years |
| -51.3% | 2008-02-29 | 2008-10-31 | 2010-09-30 | 8 mo | 2.6 years |
| -38.1% | 2026-02-28 | 2026-07-31 | not yet | 5 mo | 5 months |
| -19.4% | 2006-04-30 | 2006-06-30 | 2006-11-30 | 2 mo | 7 months |
| -15.1% | 2007-02-28 | 2007-08-31 | 2007-10-31 | 6 mo | 8 months |
Methodology: monthly closing prices, peak-to-trough on total return where available. History extends before the ETF's launch via documented proxy chains (index funds, indices, and academic series), the same data that powers BestFolio's strategy backtests. Educational information, not investment advice.
Drawdowns are the reason tactical strategies exist
Buy-and-hold SLV means living through every number on this page. BestFolio tracks published TAA strategies whose whole job is cutting these drawdowns, with out-of-sample track records.