ArmInfo.In the first half of 2025, Armenia nearly halved its diamond exports and imports (compared to a 2.5-fold increase the previous year) to 231,100 and 239,800 carats, respectively. The customs value in both cases decreased by 85%, to $59.8 million for exports and $64.7 million for imports, according to data from the RA Customs Service.
The largest share of diamond exports went to the UAE (59.4%) and Russia (36.4%), with much smaller volumes shipped to Belgium, Israel, Thailand, Georgia, the USA, Canada, Germany, Belarus, and Norway. Diamonds were also imported primarily from the UAE (52.1%), with slightly smaller amounts coming from India (36.1%), as well as Belgium, Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Israel, Canada, South Africa, and Hong Kong.
It should be noted that, according to the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, transactions with precious metals and stones have been declining in Armenia's foreign trade since 2025, accounting for 25% of the total ($2.4 billion) in the first half of the year, compared to 64% ($11.7 billion) a year ago. Specifically, the share of imports and exports of precious metals and stones in total trade fell to 19% and 35% in the first half of 2025, respectively, compared to 58% and 71% in the same period last year. Precious metal/stone transaction volumes began to decline at a significant rate starting in 2025, worsening the annual dynamics of export and import volumes from a significant 8.1-9.4-fold increase in the first half of 2024 to a significant decline of 77-78.8% in the first half of 2025.
Experts attribute this situation to the neutralization of the re-export and re-import of gold and diamonds, as a result of the settlement of customs duties on jewelry within the EAEU (Russia has eliminated duties on jewelry imports from the UAE). According to statistics, in the first half of 2025, production volumes in the jewelry industry decreased by 69.2% year-on-year (to 11.9 billion drams or $30.4 million), while a year ago there was already a strong slowdown in growth rates to 6.5%, with a volume of 33.6 billion drams ($85 million).
