Israel's H1 Diamond Imports, Exports Remain Stable

At the mid-way point of the 2013 calendar year, Israel's total export of diamonds was $3.233 billion, a slight drop from the same period in the previous year, when exports of diamonds stood at $3.3 billion. Statistics provided by Economy Ministry Diamond Controller Shmuel Mordechai revealed that the export of polished diamonds decreased slightly by 2%, as compared to 2012 H1. By contrast, Israel's exports of rough diamonds actually rose by 8.1%.

Israel imported $2.037 billion worth of rough diamonds in the first half of 2013, a 2.8% increase over the $1.984 billion worth it imported in the first half of 2012. The country imported $2.084 billion worth of polished diamonds during that time, a decrease of 5.3%.

According to Mordechai, comparing the statistics from 2013 H1 to those from 2012 H1 demonstrate that there is stability in both the import and export of both rough and polished stones to and from Israel, despite the global economic recession and the crisis of the local diamond industry.

The United States continues to be the largest market to purchase the polished diamonds exported by Israel, accounting for 44% of Israeli polished exports. The U.S. is followed by Hong Kong with 29.7%, Belgium with 6.7%, Switzerland with 7.8% and Thailand with 1.1%.

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