ArmInfo.In 2023, Armenia increased diamond exports by 88.2% to 4,458.7 thousand carats, with a customs value increase of 41.5% to $592.8 million. This is evidenced by the data of the RA Customs Service
The bulk of exports went to the UAE (84.6%), followed by Russia (11.9%), Hong Kong (2.7%), Belgium (0.4%), and very small volumes were distributed between Belarus, Israel, India, Germany, Thailand, Canada, Kazakhstan, USA, Moldova, Georgia.
During the reporting year, diamond imports increased by 39% to 3,533.3 thousand carats. The customs value increased by 44.2% to $562.3 million. The lion's share of diamonds were imported from the Russian Federation (46.7%) and India (31.3%), much less from the UAE (7.9%), Hong Kong (7%), Belarus (6.1%) and Belgium (2%), and very small volumes were imported from Angola, Botswana, Thailand, Israel, Lebanon, Canada, Congo, Switzerland, Germany, Iraq, South Africa, the USA, Tanzania, Sierra Leone.
Meanwhile, according to statistics, the volume of production in the jewelry industry increased by 51.8% in 2022, reaching 42 billion drams. At the same time, precious metals/stones and products made from them were exported in 2022 for $989.3 million (with an annual growth of 3 times), and imported for $690.8 million (with an annual growth of 2.8 times). Then, in 2023, the volume of production in the jewelry industry jumped by 4.9 times, reaching 230.9 billion drams.
The significant growth in exports and imports of precious metals/stones and products made of them in 2023 not only continued, but also accelerated to 3.2-3.3 times with exports reaching $3.2 billion and imports reaching $2.3 billion. But already in 2024, during the first half of the year, the dynamics of production in the jewelry industry tried to exit stagnation and achieve weak growth, with an accompanying significant decline in volumes, against which the export and import of jewelry products continued to grow even more noticeably - by 8.1-9.4 times to $5.6 billion and $6.1 billion.
According to experts, the very fact that precious metals and stones have come to dominate exports and imports over the years, with low production volumes in the jewelry industry, already indicates re-export and re-import, which, judging by the data for the first half of 2024, are still taking place.
