Namibia recorded a 9% increase in diamond production in 2023. The country produced 2,327 million carats of rough diamonds last year, up from 2,137 carats in 2022.
Namibia’s land-based production, overseen by the diamond corporation Namdeb, recorded a 14% increase in 2023 compared to the previous year. The company produced 468,000 carats, up from 412,000 carats in the period under review.
Meanwhile, the country’s offshore production in 2023, overseen by the marine diamond mining company Debmarine Namibia, increased by 8% to 1,859 million carats from 1,725 million carats in 2022.
Despite an overall production increase of 9% in 2023, Namibia’s total production declined by 4% to 590,000 carats in the fourth quarter of last year.
Diamond exports in Namibia decreased by approximately $63.7 million for October last year due to declining prices in the country in recent months. According to the Bank of Namibia, this is primarily due to rising demand for synthetic diamonds.
Diamond prices continued to decline since the last monetary policy committee meeting due to persistent lackluster global consumer demand amid the rising supply of lab-grown diamonds
