The total value of all Antwerp’s diamond imports and exports fell by over a third in the first two months of 2025, according to the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) as the global slowdown and the impact of lab gowns were compounded by the effects of G7 sanctions on the sole verification point.

Imports fell 36 per cent by value, from $2bn in January and February 2024, to $1.3bn in the same months of 2025 and were down by 17 per cent in carat terms, from 26.8m carats to 22.1m carats.

Exports were down by almost 38 per cent to $1bn by value and down 24 per cent to 11m carats by volume.

Average per carat rough prices recorded by the AWDC’s Diamond Office fell by over 11 per cent from January 2024 to January 2025 to $98.36 and polished prices were down by over 9 per cent during the same period to $1.940.69.

Antwerp had suffered geopolitical tensions, dwindling demand and lab grown popularity like other diamond centers, said Karen Rentmeesters,  CEO of AWDC at an inaugural Town Hall meeting (on 12 March). But it was only the only hub hit by the G7 sanctions on Russia, which wiped out over a quarter of its supply. “There’s geopolitical tensions, there’s dwindling demand, there’s increased competition from lab grown or synthetic diamonds. And this has had a severe impact on the trade, on the volumes, across the board. We see it in all the trade hubs and the manufacturing hubs.”

She also noted that figures for January and February 2024 were just before the implementation of indirect G7 sanctions on 1 March 2024, outlawing diamonds of 1.0-cts or above, even if polished outside Russia.But she said Antwerp, alone among diamond hubs, had been hit by the G7 sanctions. Antwerp has been the sole verification point for rough goods entering the G7 (and the EU) countries since 1 March 2024, although the European Commission (EC) has said it will be establishing a second entry point in Botswana.