India cuts Russian rough diamond imports 39% to $406 mln in 2025

MOSCOW. Feb 26 (Interfax) - India cut rough diamond imports from Russia 39% to $406 million in 2025 from $664 million a year previously, the Indian Commerce and Industry Ministry said.

Russia supplied $12 million of diamonds in December, down 63% year-on-year.

The figures for direct diamond trade between Russia and India might not fully reflect the scale of Russian exports because after the imposition of U.S. and G7 sanctions in 2022-2024, some Russian rough diamonds may be entering the UAE, from where they are imported for cutting to India. Rapaport Group head Martin Rapaport, among others, has pointed to the existence of such a scheme.

India's total rough diamond imports fell 6% in 2025 to $16.76 billion from $17.83 billion.

The UAE is still the biggest rough diamond supplier to India by far, followed by Hong Kong and Belgium and the United States. Hong Kong was behind Russia in terms of diamond supplies until 2022, when the U.S. imposed sanctions against Russian diamond miner Alrosa .

Diamond imports from the UAE rose 6.5% in 2025 to $8.46 billion, imports from Hong Kong rose 5.6% to $2.48 billion, supplies from Belgium fell 12% to $1.91 billion and from the U.S. they fell 33% to $1.7 billion.

Imports of Russian diamonds began to decline in annual terms in April 2024, possibly due to G7 sanctions against Russian diamonds going into effect.

India is the world's largest producer of polished diamonds, accounting for nine-tenths of all polished diamonds, predominantly small ones, which used to be made mostly from Russian rough diamonds.

According to Kimberley Process estimates, Russia, which accounts for 29% of global mine production in value, exported 30.4 million carats worth $2.62 billion in 2024. The UAE, where no mining occurs but a global diamond trading center has been established, was the largest exporter with 85.7 million carats worth $9.83 billion.