Global diamond jewellery demand reaches record $82 billion in 2017

By

Robin Driver

Published
May 18, 2018

Global consumer demand for diamond jewellery hit a record $82 billion in 2017, up 2% from the previous year, with the US leading growth for the fourth consecutive year, according to a study published by Anglo American plc-owned diamond company the De Beers Group on Thursday.

 
A combination of strong consumer confidence and positive macroeconomics helped push demand up 4% in the US, where it totalled $43 billion, accounting for over half of global demand. Interestingly, De Beers also found that self-purchase represented 33% of total US diamond jewellery purchases in 2017.
 
Mainland China, which is the second largest consumer market for diamond jewellery, also saw demand increase by 3% in local currency (1% in US dollars) to $10 billion, progress which was again pushed by increased consumer confidence.

“People around the world are spending more on diamond jewellery than ever before and it’s encouraging to see consumers in the US, the world’s largest and most mature market, leading the way,” commented De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver on the company’s website.
 
Despite figures rising on the whole, some of the other major diamond jewellery consumer markets, such as the Gulf, Japan and India did not see such positive progress in 2017, with demand falling low single digits in US dollar terms due to a number of different macro-economic and regulatory issues, as well as the negative impact of exchange rates. 
 
Looking forward to 2018, De Beers predicts that demand growth will remain positive thanks to the diamond industry’s investments in category marketing and strong consumer confidence.