MOSCOW, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Russia exported 30.37 million carats of diamonds in 2024, a 6.3 percent decline in comparison to the previous year, according to the data released by the Kimberley Process, an international diamond certification scheme.
Revenues from diamond exports fell by 29 percent in 2024 to 2.62 billion U.S. dollars from 3.68 billion dollars in 2023, according to the statistics. Russia produced 37.32 million carats of diamonds in 2024, maintaining the same output as in the previous year.
Russia accounted for 32 percent of global diamond supply last year, while Botswana accounted for 24 percent, Angola 12 percent, and Canada 11 percent.
Among the largest exporters of diamonds were the United Arab Emirates with a 30 percent share in global supplies, the European Union with 14 percent, and Russia with 11 percent. India was the largest importer of diamonds in 2024, according to TASS.
In an interview with RIA Novosti, Alexey Kalachev, an analyst at Russian financial services company Finam, noted that Western sanctions have had little impact on Russian diamond exports last year, and attributed the decline to a crisis in the global diamond market.
He believes that if the sanctions had worked, diamond prices would have increased due to global shortages. He said that the 29 percent drop in export revenues was in part due to a decline in shipments and lower global prices.
The Kimberley Process was established in 2000 in South Africa. Its participants are countries producing and importing diamonds, which set the goal of removing "conflict" diamonds used for arms and support of anti-government and terrorist organizations from being traded internationally and ensure transparency in the global diamond market.
The Kimberley Process ensures control over export-import operations, covering up to 99 percent of global turnover of diamonds.
