Editor’s Note
This article highlights the profound challenges facing Antwerp’s historic diamond sector, detailing a sharp, multi-year decline in trade driven by shifting global demand, competition from lab-grown stones, and geopolitical sanctions.
21 January 2025
The diamond sector in Antwerp, once the largest in the world, is in a severe crisis, reports VRT NWS. According to the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), trade in 2023 fell by 25 percent compared to the previous year to a total of 23.7 billion euros. This follows an already 20 percent decline in 2022.
The decline is attributed to a drop in global demand, a rise in synthetic diamonds, and the EU ban on Russian diamonds, which once accounted for 35 percent of Antwerp’s imports. While the industry supports the ban, it is crucial that other G7 countries introduce similarly strict controls, said AWDC CEO Karen Rentmeesters.
Dubai has now overtaken Antwerp as the leading diamond center, as it benefits from fewer restrictions. Competing markets, including India and some African countries, are poised to take over part of Antwerp’s shrinking dominance.
Industry leaders point to bureaucratic hurdles such as restricted access to bank accounts, delayed visa issuance, and inconsistent customs regulations as major obstacles. To secure Antwerp’s future in the global diamond trade, political adjustments are needed, said Bart De Hantsetters, CEO of Diamcad, a global authority in diamond polishing.
Antwerp is the gateway for all diamonds entering and leaving Europe. The city is home to 1,400 diamond companies and employs around 3,500 people. However, amid growing doubts about Antwerp’s future as a global hub, calls are increasingly being made to the Belgian government to relax regulations and increase support for the industry.