Zimbabwe ranks among world’s top diamond producers

Zimbabwe ranks among world’s top diamond producers

STAFF WRITER

Zimbabwe ranks as the seventh-biggest diamond producer in the world – behind Botswana, Russia, Angola, Canada, South Africa and Namibia – according to figures attributed to the Kimberly Processing and Certification Scheme (KPCS) this week.

KPCS, the regulator of trade and production of diamonds globally, says Zimbabwe has an annual output of over 4 million carats worth US$420 million and media reports say the country is aiming to produce 7 million carats of diamonds this year and revenue of US$1 billion.

The Zimbabwean government expects the mining sector to reach a 12 billion U.S. dollar market value by the end of this year.

Last year, 2022, Zimbabwe was the world’s seventh-largest producer of diamonds albeit with output down by 19.2% on 2021, according to GlobalData.

Over the five years to 2021, production from Zimbabwe increased by a CAGR of 14% and is expected to rise by a CAGR of 3% between 2022 and 2026.

GlobalData uses proprietary data and analytics to provide a complete picture of this market in its Global Diamond Mining to 2026 report. Buy the report here.

Zimbabwe accounts for 3% of global production, with the largest producers being Russia, Botswana, Canada and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Exports of diamonds from Zimbabwe declined by 21.89% in 2022 over 2021. Zimbabwe’s diamond exports are expected to drop at a CAGR of 0.48% between 2022 and 2026.