Despite producing 33% fewer carats than Russia, Botswana's $3.3B production value nearly matched Russia’s $3.6B in 2023

Key Takeaways

  • Russia is the volume leader with 37.3M carats, nearly 1.5× Botswana’s 25.1M carats.
  • Botswana punches above its weight: though producing 33% fewer carats than Russia, its output value almost matches Russia's due to higher value per carat price.
  • Eight of the top 10 producers are African (Botswana, Angola, DR Congo, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Lesotho).
  • Low-volume producers like Namibia (2.4M ct → $1.2B) highlight how smaller deposits can yield high-value diamonds.

In 2023, the global diamond market continued to show a fascinating split between volume and value. Russia retained its crown as the world’s largest producer by carats, mining 37.3 million ct, yet Botswana proved nearly as lucrative, generating $3.3 billion from just 25.1 million ct, underscoring the premium quality of its stones. Africa remains the diamond powerhouse, with 8 countries in the top 10, led by Angola (9.8M ct, $1.5B) and DR Congo (8.3M ct, $65M) — the latter revealing how industrial-grade stones can drag down export value. Meanwhile, Namibia and Lesotho demonstrated that size doesn’t always matter in diamonds; with relatively small outputs, they delivered outsized earnings per carat. Together, these trends highlight the duality of the diamond trade: sheer volume vs. premium value.

Source:

World population review

Period:

2023
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