Overall, the value of diamonds bought by all importing countries dropped by an average -38.4% since 2016 when diamond purchases cost $121 billion. From 2019 to 2020, the total dollar amount for imported diamonds slipped by -32%.
Collectively, the top 5 buyers of imported diamonds (India, United States, Hong Kong, Belgium, United Arab Emirates) purchased almost three-quarters (72.6%) of internationally sold diamonds in 2020.
From a continental perspective, Asian countries spent the most on imported diamonds during 2020 with purchases costing $47.2 billion or 63.5% of the global total. In second place were North American importers at 17.2% while 15.3% of worldwide diamond imports were delivered to European countries.
Smaller percentages went to Africa (3.4%), Oceania (0.5%) led by Australia, and Latin America (0.04%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 7102 for non-mounted and unset diamonds.
Diamond Imports by Country
Top 15
Below are the 15 countries that imported the highest dollar value worth of diamonds during 2020.
- India: US$15.9 billion (21.3% of total imported diamonds)
- United States: $12.5 billion (16.7%)
- Hong Kong: $11.4 billion (15.3%)
- Belgium: $8 billion (10.7%)
- United Arab Emirates: $6.3 billion (8.5%)
- China: $5.9 billion (8%)
- Israel: $3.9 billion (5.3%)
- Botswana: $2 billion (2.7%)
- Switzerland: $1.5 billion (2%)
- Thailand: $1.3 billion (1.7%)
- Singapore: $876.5 million (1.2%)
- United Kingdom: $597.8 million (0.8%)
- France: $485.4 million (0.7%)
- Japan: $468.1 million (0.6%)
- Italy: $436.5 million (0.6%)
Among the above countries, the sole growth market for importing diamonds since 2019 was Botswana thanks to a 7.4% increase.
Those countries that posted declines in their imported diamonds purchases were led by: United Kingdom (down -67.8%), France (down -46.1%), United Arab Emirates (down -42%) and Italy (down -39.3%).
By value, the listed 15 countries purchased 96.1% of all diamonds imported in 2020.
India
Diamond Imports into India
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which India imported the highest dollar value worth of diamonds during 2020. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2019 to 2020.
- United Arab Emirates: US$4.1 billion (down -20.3% from 2019)
- United States: $3.4 billion (down -24.9%)
- Belgium: $3.3 billion (down -39.9%)
- Hong Kong: $2.3 billion (down -20.2%)
- Russia: $567.3 million (up 12.7%)
- Israel: $537.1 million (down -22.7%)
- South Africa: $500.3 million (up 0.1%)
- Botswana: $459.7 million (down -41.2%)
- Thailand: $193.7 million (down -18.6%)
- Japan: $121.8 million (down -27.4%)
- Canada: $118.5 million (down -68.4%)
- Singapore: $79.7 million (down -61.2%)
- United Kingdom: $45.3 million (down -85.3%)
- Switzerland: $35.9 million (down -43.3%)
- Namibia: $19.8 million (up 57.8%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.8% of diamonds imported by India in 2020.
Among the above countries, three grew their supplies of diamonds to India since 2019 were: Namibia (up 57.8%), Russia (up 12.7%) and South Africa (up 0.1%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their diamonds supplied to Indian importers included: United Kingdom (down -85.3%), Canada (down -68.4%), Singapore (down -61.2%) and Switzerland (down -43.3%).
Overall, the value of India’s imported diamonds fell by an average -27.9% from all supplying countries since 2019 when diamonds purchased cost $22.1 billion.
USA
Diamond Imports into the United States
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which the United States imported the highest dollar value worth of diamonds during 2020. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2019 to 2020.
- India: US$6.4 billion (down -21.8% from 2019)
- Israel: $3.4 billion (down -50.1%)
- Belgium: $982.8 million (down -49.2%)
- South Africa: $479.6 million (down -48.9%)
- Switzerland: $305.1 million (up 37.7%)
- Russia: $212.4 million (down -41.3%)
- Botswana: $177.2 million (down -36.2%)
- Namibia: $67.7 million (down -30%)
- Australia: $59.4 million (down -32.3%)
- Mauritius: $54.6 million (down -42%)
- Lesotho: $45.6 million (up 144.5%)
- Hong Kong: $44.5 million (down -88.6%)
- Canada: $44.1 million (down -52%)
- Vietnam: $43.1 million (down -25.3%)
- United Arab Emirates: $40.2 million (down -66.1%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 98.7% of diamonds imported by the United States in 2020.
Among the above countries, there were two growth suppliers of diamonds to the United States since 2019. These were Lesotho (up 144.5%) and Switzerland (up 37.7%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their diamonds supplied to American importers were led by: Hong Kong (down -88.6%), United Arab Emirates (down -66.1%), Canada (down -52%) and Israel (down -50.1%).
Overall, the value of America’s imported diamonds dropped by an average -38.2% from all supplying countries since 2019 when diamonds purchased cost $20.2 billion.
Hong Kong
Diamond Imports into Hong Kong
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Hong Kong imported the highest dollar value worth of diamonds during 2020. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2019 to 2020.
- India: US$4.6 billion (down -32.9% from 2019)
- Belgium: $1.4 billion (down -30%)
- United States: $1.1 billion (down -40.8%)
- China: $985 million (down -30.5%)
- United Arab Emirates: $932.6 million (down -29.3%)
- Israel: $856.1 million (down -41.9%)
- Thailand: $338.7 million (down -3.5%)
- Japan: $211 million (down -34.2%)
- Botswana: $172.3 million (down -40.5%)
- France: $163.9 million (up 28.2%)
- Switzerland: $142.9 million (down -80.1%)
- Singapore: $124.7 million (down -47.8%)
- Taiwan: $115.7 million (up 384.3%)
- United Kingdom: $89.9 million (down -65.6%)
- South Africa: $46.7 million (down -26.2%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 98.6% of diamonds imported by Hong Kong in 2020.
Among the above countries, the two growth suppliers of diamonds exported to Hong Kong since 2019 were Taiwan (up 384.3%) and France (up 28.2%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their diamonds supplied to Hong Kong importers included: Switzerland (down -80.1%), United Kingdom (down -65.6%), Singapore (down -47.8%) and Israel (down -41.9%).
Overall, the value of Hong Kong’s imported diamonds plunged by an average -35.6% from all supplying countries since 2019 when diamonds purchased cost $17.7 billion.
Belgium
Diamond Imports into Belgium
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Belgium imported the highest dollar value worth of diamonds during 2020. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2019 to 2020.
- Russia: US$1.4 billion (down -39.3% from 2019)
- India: $1.2 billion (down -23.2%)
- Botswana: $1.1 billion (up 15.8%)
- Canada: $816.3 million (up 6.3%)
- United Arab Emirates: $810.3 million (down -28.7%)
- South Africa: $585.7 million (up 0.4%)
- Angola: $322.2 million (down -4.7%)
- Lesotho: $297.3 million (up 0.2%)
- Hong Kong: $261.6 million (down -46%)
- Israel: $261.4 million (down -24.2%)
- Namibia: $141.9 million (down -5.9%)
- Australia: $119.9 million (up 604.9%)
- Singapore: $101.4 million (down -7.2%)
- Zimbabwe: $88.7 million (up 23618.2%)
- United States: $87.3 million (down -22.7%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 94.9% of diamonds imported by Belgium in 2020.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of diamonds to Belgium since 2019 were: Zimbabwe (up 23,618%), Australia (up 604.9%), Botswana (up 15.8%) and Canada (up 6.3%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their diamonds supplied to Belgian importers were led by: Hong Kong (down -46%), Russia (down -39.3%), United Arab Emirates (down -28.7%) and Israel (down -24.2%).
Overall, the value of Belgium’s imported diamonds decelerated by an average -23.3% from all supplying countries since 2019 when diamonds purchased cost $10.4 billion.
Searchable List of Diamonds Importing Countries in 2020
The top 100 importers of diamonds listed in the following database contributed 99.9% of the overall value of diamonds imported during 2020.
| Rank | Importer | Imported Diamonds (US$) | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | India | $15,899,277,000 | -27.9% |
| 2. | United States | $12,474,890,000 | -38.2% |
| 3. | Hong Kong | $11,412,687,000 | -35.6% |
| 4. | Belgium | $7,971,333,000 | -23.3% |
| 5. | United Arab Emirates | $6,346,162,000 | -42% |
| 6. | China | $5,944,613,000 | -24.2% |
| 7. | Israel | $3,932,005,000 | -16.2% |
| 8. | Botswana | $1,999,731,000 | +7.4% |
| 9. | Switzerland | $1,474,505,000 | -38% |
| 10. | Thailand | $1,282,709,000 | -36% |
| 11. | Singapore | $876,521,000 | -25.9% |
| 12. | United Kingdom | $597,820,000 | -67.8% |
| 13. | France | $485,437,000 | -46.1% |
| 14. | Japan | $468,058,000 | -36.9% |
| 15. | Italy | $436,464,000 | -39.3% |
| 16. | South Africa | $387,300,000 | -31.2% |
| 17. | Australia | $366,533,000 | -13% |
| 18. | Lebanon | $272,114,000 | -18.2% |
| 19. | Canada | $259,249,000 | -24.1% |
| 20. | Vietnam | $199,137,000 | -34.5% |
| 21. | Germany | $183,757,000 | -28.8% |
| 22. | Turkey | $121,051,000 | -39.8% |
| 23. | Russia | $101,495,000 | -40.8% |
| 24. | Armenia | $97,155,000 | -35% |
| 25. | Sri Lanka | $83,258,000 | -31.2% |
| 26. | South Korea | $81,584,000 | +21.7% |
| 27. | Mexico | $75,817,000 | -22.3% |
| 28. | Namibia | $75,034,000 | -71.4% |
| 29. | Taiwan | $67,734,000 | -12.1% |
| 30. | Malaysia | $47,858,000 | -49% |
| 31. | Mauritius | $43,190,000 | -49.4% |
| 32. | Cambodia | $36,515,000 | -33% |
| 33. | Spain | $28,944,000 | -31.7% |
| 34. | Indonesia | $27,107,000 | -36.0% |
| 35. | New Zealand | $25,306,000 | -6.1% |
| 36. | Netherlands | $24,357,000 | -27.9% |
| 37. | Ireland | $18,406,000 | -20.8% |
| 38. | British Virgin Is. | $17,586,000 | +22.3% |
| 39. | Denmark | $15,617,000 | +31.6% |
| 40. | Czech Republic | $14,613,000 | +25.9% |
| 41. | Austria | $12,975,000 | -46% |
| 42. | Saudi Arabia | $12,436,000 | +30.8% |
| 43. | Laos | $8,949,000 | -48.8% |
| 44. | Sweden | $8,644,000 | +1.8% |
| 45. | Norway | $7,833,000 | +6.8% |
| 46. | Poland | $7,491,000 | -27.8% |
| 47. | Nepal | $6,074,000 | -51.3% |
| 48. | Brazil | $5,831,000 | -49.6% |
| 49. | Macao | $5,698,000 | -16.5% |
| 50. | Bahrain | $5,048,000 | +26.5% |
| 51. | Belarus | $4,778,000 | 0% |
| 52. | Morocco | $4,737,000 | +1.7% |
| 53. | Greece | $4,604,000 | -16.3% |
| 54. | Solomon Islands | $3,751,000 | 0.0% |
| 55. | Cyprus | $3,558,000 | -13.3% |
| 56. | Finland | $3,139,000 | -1.9% |
| 57. | Egypt | $2,669,000 | +101.9% |
| 58. | Panama | $1,816,000 | -89% |
| 59. | Portugal | $1,791,000 | +63.3% |
| 60. | Slovakia | $1,518,000 | +66.8% |
| 61. | Peru | $1,363,000 | -10.5% |
| 62. | Jordan | $1,288,000 | -14.8% |
| 63. | Dominican Republic | $1,186,000 | -64.8% |
| 64. | Ukraine | $1,178,000 | -69% |
| 65. | Qatar | $1,131,000 | +145.9% |
| 66. | Gibraltar | $1,088,000 | +74.9% |
| 67. | Croatia | $1,048,000 | +7.6% |
| 68. | Kuwait | $983,000 | +91.2% |
| 69. | Malta | $913,000 | +92.2% |
| 70. | Tunisia | $904,000 | -1.8% |
| 71. | Slovenia | $739,000 | -46% |
| 72. | Lithuania | $704,000 | +87.2% |
| 73. | Luxembourg | $679,000 | -26.7% |
| 74. | Bahamas | $676,000 | -53.7% |
| 75. | Honduras | $617,000 | +20467% |
| 76. | Andorra | $579,000 | -41.3% |
| 77. | Bulgaria | $553,000 | -91.5% |
| 78. | Cayman Islands | $523,000 | -93.2% |
| 79. | Aruba | $519,000 | -39% |
| 80. | Philippines | $517,000 | -4.4% |
| 81. | Hungary | $493,000 | -2.8% |
| 82. | Serbia | $491,000 | +27.5% |
| 83. | New Caledonia | $458,000 | -5.2% |
| 84. | Libya | $419,000 | 0% |
| 85. | Sierra Leone | $364,000 | +46.2% |
| 86. | Chile | $288,000 | +48.5% |
| 87. | Colombia | $261,000 | -56.9% |
| 88. | Iceland | $257,000 | -5.2% |
| 89. | Kazakhstan | $250,000 | +10.1% |
| 90. | Jamaica | $248,000 | -44.3% |
| 91. | Cameroon | $229,000 | 0% |
| 92. | El Salvador | $216,000 | +8.5% |
| 93. | Estonia | $190,000 | +52% |
| 94. | Bermuda | $178,000 | -76.3% |
| 95. | Antigua/Barbuda | $177,000 | +2429% |
| 96. | Turks/Caicos Is. | $169,000 | -75.3% |
| 97. | Central African Rep. | $152,000 | 0% |
| 98. | Ghana | $130,000 | 0% |
| 99. | Guatemala | $122,000 | +90.6% |
| 100. | Belize | $119,000 | -75.9% |
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2019 data was unavailable.
The fastest-growing importers of diamonds from international markets from 2019 to 2020 were Honduras (up 20,467%), Antigua and Barbuda (up 2,429%), Qatar (up 145.9%) and Egypt (up 101.9%).
See also Diamonds Exports by Country, America’s Top Trading Partners and Exported Paintings and Drawings by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Imports – Commodities. Accessed on July 7, 2021
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 7, 2021
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 7, 2021
