‘India to be third largest diamond market by 2020’

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Dec 8, 2016

India is all set to be the third largest market for diamonds in the world ahead of its nearest rivals Japan and Europe by 2020, a report by consultancy firm Bain & Company has said.
 

India is currently the fifth largest market for diamond jewellery after US, China, Europe and Japan. Demand was driven by continued economic upturn with accelerating GDP and disposable income growth rates (7.5% and 9% in 2015 vs 7.2% and 6% in 2014).
 
“We believe India has the potential to be the fastest-growing diamond jewellery market in coming years on the strength of increasing urbanization, middle-class expansion and engagement ring penetration,” analysts said in the report.

“Continued depreciation of rupee could negatively affect market growth rates in US dollar terms over the short-to-medium term,” report added
 
Number of middleclass households in India will be around 170 million in 2030 from about 50 million at present, the report estimated.

It also said millennials across the world, including in India, will fuel the demand for diamond, despite global supply of rough diamond declining due to ageing of mines.
 
Although millennials in India and China rank jewellery as their number one gifting category, the way they shop for diamonds make them unique.

For instance, in the US, millennials use the internet for diamond jewellery shopping. In India, millennials like to visit department stores, while Chinese millennials prefer specialized stores, when shopping for diamond jewellery.