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Who buys South Africa’s diamonds? Export destinations 2024

In 2024, South Africa exported $4.7 billion of diamonds (7 tonnes), 6.4% of the world total. Its main destinations were China (31%), the United Arab Emirates (24%) and the United States (16%). South Africa was the world’s 7th-largest exporter of diamonds.

Summary

Value
$4.7billion
Tonnes
7tonnes
Share of world total
6.4%
World rank
7th
Routes to the main destinations. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Destinations

The 20 main destinations in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD billions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
China1.5Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $2,972,858,11631.4%Air
United Arab Emirates1.1Tonnes: 1USD per tonne: $1,615,060,46023.8%Air
United States0.75Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $13,453,518,55415.9%Air
Belgium re-exports0.41Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $1,316,589,8058.7%Air
India0.3Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $1,388,825,7136.4%Air
Botswana0.21Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $528,782,5954.4%Land
Hong Kong re-exports0.1Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $24,901,373,2502.1%Air
Switzerland0.09Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $37,974,0001.8%Sea
France0.06Tonnes: 4USD per tonne: $14,274,1811.3%Air
United Kingdom0.05Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $930,985,5541.1%Air
Israel0.05Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $4,707,062,4551.1%Air
Thailand0.02Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $1,941,211,5830.49%Air
Sri Lanka0.02Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $1,223,939,6110.47%Air
Armenia0.02Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $7,542,870,0000.32%Air
Japan0.01Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $2,633,928,0000.17%Air
Macao< 0.01Tonnes: —USD per tonne: —0.09%Sea
Spain< 0.01Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $1,400,998,3330.09%Air
Italy< 0.01Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $123,091,3330.08%Air
Singapore re-exports< 0.01Tonnes: —USD per tonne: —0.07%Sea
Netherlands re-exports< 0.01Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $556,0000.05%Sea

Trend

Who it sells to

China has been its main destination since 2013

Value in USD billions. The five largest destinations in 2024.

  • China 1.5
  • United Arab Emirates 1.1
  • United States 0.75
  • Belgium 0.41
  • India 0.3

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
China0.041.5
United Arab Emirates< 0.011.1
United States0.090.75
Belgium0.310.41
India< 0.010.3

Sources and methodology

Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.

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