Zimbabwe’s diamond exports lost their sparkle during the first quarter after a brutal global price meltdown hammered earnings, according to the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ).
The agency’s statistics showed diamond exports plunging 29% to US$21,55 million during the period.
Volumes fell 11% to 784 764 carats.
The sharp divergence between export volumes and earnings highlights the severity of the collapse in global diamond prices as weakening demand collides with the explosive rise of lab-grown gems, which are rapidly reshaping international jewellery markets.
“Diamond sales for Q1 2026 amounted to 784 764 carats valued at US$21,55 million, reflecting declines of 11% in volume and 29% in value against the same period in 2025,” the MMCZ said.
“The performance was impacted by two converging factors: production challenges and sustained downward pressure on natural diamond prices driven by the growing competitiveness of lab-grown diamonds in the global market,” it added.
The figures paint a grim picture for a sector once projected to generate billions of United States dollars annually following the discovery of vast alluvial deposits in Marange nearly two decades ago.
But even before MMCZ’s latest report, signs of severe stress had already emerged within Zimbabwe’s diamond industry.
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In March, the Zimbabwe Independent reported that Anjin Investments, one of the country’s remaining diamond miners, had suspended production and placed its operations under care and maintenance after failing to withstand the global price downturn.
The crisis at Anjin followed earlier problems at the state-run Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company, where retrenchments were initiated last year as collapsing prices squeezed revenues and threatened viability.
The deepening downturn has exposed how dramatically fortunes have shifted for Zimbabwe’s diamond sector.
At the height of the Marange boom, Zimbabwe was forecast to emerge among the world’s leading diamond producers, with expectations that the sector would become a major pillar of economic recovery and foreign currency generation.
Instead, the industry now finds itself trapped between falling prices, weakening consumer demand and intensifying competition from synthetic alternatives.
Lab-grown diamonds — physically and chemically identical to mined stones — are rapidly gaining market share as consumers increasingly opt for significantly cheaper alternatives.
Prices for synthetic gems have collapsed in recent years, accelerating adoption across key consumer markets, including the United States, China and Europe, while simultaneously eroding the premium traditionally enjoyed by natural stones.
Chenayimoyo Mutambasere, development economist at Africa Centre for Economic Justice, said the collapse should serve as a warning to resource-dependent economies across markets.
“The 29% collapse in diamond export earnings reported by MMCZ should be viewed as a warning sign about the dangers of relying excessively on raw commodity exports as a pillar of national revenue,” Mutambasere told the Independent.
“Extractive industries are highly susceptible to global market fluctuations, technological disruption and changing consumption trends — factors largely outside Zimbabwe’s control. This reinforces the urgent need for economic diversification and value addition.”
The crisis is unfolding across the global diamond industry.
Mining giant Anglo American has already moved to restructure De Beers after profits plunged amid weak demand, falling prices and rising inventories.
Industry benchmarks show rough diamond prices have remained under sustained pressure since mid-2024 following the collapse of the post-pandemic luxury spending boom that had temporarily lifted jewellery sales in the United States and Europe.
Diamonds, traditionally regarded as discretionary luxury purchases, are often among the first products consumers abandon during periods of economic uncertainty.
Against that backdrop, Zimbabwe’s broader mining industry is increasingly shifting away from diamonds.
The MMCZ reported that overall mineral export revenues surged 79% to US$983,85 million during the first quarter, driven by booming lithium, platinum and steel exports.
Lithium revenues more than doubled to US$178,64 million after government restrictions on concentrate exports accelerated domestic processing.
Platinum group metals generated more than US$543 million during the quarter, buoyed by firming global industrial demand, while steel exports also surged following increased production of value-added products, the MMCZ said.
Diamonds, however, emerged as the weakest performer across the entire minerals sector.
Ironically, the collapse comes at a time when Zimbabwe is aggressively repositioning itself as a major player in global critical minerals supply chains through beneficiation and local processing policies.
MMCZ said the government’s February 2026 ban on exports of unbeneficiated minerals had already started reshaping the mining sector.
Yet while lithium, steel and platinum benefited from rising global strategic demand, diamonds — once Zimbabwe’s crown jewel — have instead become the clearest casualty of a global industry being fundamentally rewritten by technology, shifting consumer tastes and changing economic realities.
