Sales of diamond jewelry grew 29% over the past year as demand grew in spite of coronavirus disruptions, according to an annual report by experts from the Bain consulting firm and Antwerp World Diamond Centre, released on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th February, 2022) Sales of diamond jewelry grew 29% over the past year as demand grew in spite of coronavirus disruptions, according to an annual report by experts from the Bain consulting firm and Antwerp World Diamond Centre, released on Monday.
In 2020, diamond jewelry sales dropped 14% after coronavirus-driven store closures, travel limits, and wedding cancellations, the experts said.
"In 2021, the personal luxury and diamond jewelry markets experienced decade-high growth (+35% and +29%, respectively)," the report read, adding that the rise was driven by relaxation of COVID-19 measures, "experience-spending opportunities," and marketing.
In their 2022 forecast, the authors considered two scenarios of demand dynamics. In the base scenario, dubbed "continued rebound," demand will recover to the pre-pandemic level globally and grow in the American and Chinese markets, which will drive sales up 5-7%. In the second scenario, dubbed "short-term readjustment," the demand for diamond jewelry will slightly decrease in late 2022 and early 2023 before returning to pre-pandemic levels in 2024, the experts said.
The report noted an increase in sales of rough diamonds by 62% in 2021, which is 13 points more than pre-pandemic levels, while net diamond output rose by 5% the same year, which is 20% below the pre-pandemic levels.
The experts do not expect diamond production to return to pre-pandemic levels in the next five years, anticipating up to 2% growth throughout 2022 due to a lack of major exploration projects and investments, as well as potential coronavirus effects.
