Dubai’s diamond trade reached USD 41.7 billion in 2025, according to figures announced by DMCC on 13 July 2026. The emirate simultaneously moved 359.5 million carats — the first time both value and volume have set records in the same year, based on Dubai Customs data.
Double record: value and volume
The 2025 total marks a 16.2% year-on-year jump from USD 35.8 billion in 2024, adding USD 5.8 billion in a single year. Physical throughput grew even faster, up 42.5%. The previous value record — USD 40.9 billion set in 2011 — had held for 14 years without a challenger. No earlier year had produced record-breaking numbers on both metrics at once.
The gap between the two headline growth rates matters. Value up 16% against volume up 42% points to a shifting mix — more low-cost material moving through the emirate alongside a stronger, richer high-end segment underneath.
Inside the record: natural, coloured, synthetic
Natural diamonds carried the bulk of the trade. Total natural value hit USD 39.9 billion, or 95.8% of the reported figure. Rough natural stones accounted for 205.2 million carats. Polished natural diamonds reached USD 18.7 billion, up 25% year-on-year and up 246% over five years — average value per carat climbed roughly eight to nine times over the same period.
Coloured gemstones — the fastest-growing category — brought in USD 1.1 billion, up 48%. Imports rose 68.8% and re-exports climbed 33.5%, signalling deepening two-way flow through the emirate. Synthetic and industrial stones made up about 39% of total carat volume, reflecting Dubai’s growing role as a transit point for lower-value industrial material as well.
Five-year trajectory: Dubai doubled
Since 2020, Dubai’s diamond trade has grown 139% by value and 100% by volume. In plain terms: the emirate doubled physical throughput and multiplied trade value 2.4 times in five years. Polished natural per-carat value alone is up roughly eight to nine times.
Dubai now functions as a gateway between producing countries — Botswana, Angola, Australia and Canada — the world’s main cutting and manufacturing centres in India and Belgium, and consumer markets in the United States, China, India and the Gulf. That triangulation runs through the DMCC free zone, home to the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE). The DDE has anchored the ecosystem as trading houses have consolidated logistics, financing and inventory functions inside a single jurisdiction.
What DMCC says
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and CEO of DMCC, framed the numbers as validation of long-standing policy:
"Dubai’s latest diamond trade figures demonstrate the success of a long-term strategy to build the world’s most connected, transparent, and efficient precious stones ecosystem. Since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, we have seen trade through Dubai double in physical volume and grow by almost 140% in value. For natural polished diamonds alone, value has grown by 246%."
The infrastructure sits on the DDE trading floor plus integrated services covering logistics, customs, banking, insurance and gemological assessment. Rough diamonds moving through the emirate pass Kimberley Process certification via the UAE Kimberley Process Office, administered by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism. That compliance layer is what allows Dubai to remain a credible transit point for large parcels of rough material — an infrastructural piece, not a marketing line.
What this means for UAE businesses
Three practical readings emerge for traders, jewellers and adjacent service providers.
Natural stones remain commercially resilient. A 95.8% value share tells jewellery brands and wholesalers that lab-grown pressure has not displaced natural diamonds in the channel running through Dubai. Sourcing strategies built on natural inventory still have a solid market underneath them, and premium polished pricing has held despite years of headline fear about synthetic disruption.
Coloured gemstones are the open niche. A 48% jump beats every other category on the DMCC scoreboard, and competition remains lighter than in diamonds. For newcomers to the precious stones sector — including brands looking to differentiate — coloured stones offer a less crowded entry route with room for margin expansion.
Adjacent services scale with the flow. High-value logistics, specialist insurance, trade finance, gemological assessment and Kimberley Process compliance consulting all move with the market. The 2025 record signals a widening pool of demand for support businesses plugged into the DMCC ecosystem — the kind of B2B services that grow quietly alongside the headline commodity trade.
Sources
- Dubai Media Office — DMCC announcement (13.07.2026): mediaoffice.ae
- DMCC latest news: dmcc.ae/latest-news
- Gulf News: Dubai diamond trade hits record $41.7 billion after 14 years
- Khaleej Times: Dubai’s diamond trade sparkles to record $41.7 billion in 2025
