UAE, Bahrain received 85% of India’s gold jewellery exports in FY24

Increase in plain gold jewellery exports attributed to the pragmatic foreign trade agreements, such as the India-UAE CEPA

New Delhi: Markets of UAE and Bahrain accounted for over 85% of India’s plain gold jewellery exports. The UAE emerged as a significant market for plain gold jewellery exports from India, experiencing a growth of 107.2% to reach $4,528.66 million in FY 2023-24, in comparison to $2,185.67 million in the previous year.

Exports of plain gold jewellery surged by 61.72% to $6792.24 million in FY 2023-24 as compared to $4199.96 million in FY 2022-23, said the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council of India (GJEPC) in a report.

It further added that the total gold, plain and studded jewellery exports, which experienced a 10.47% decline between April 2023 to September 2023, rebounded strongly in the latter half of the year, achieving a growth of 46.91%.

Vipul Shah, Chairman, GJEPC, was quoted by the Economic Times as saying, “The increase in plain gold jewellery exports may be attributed to the pragmatic foreign trade agreements by the Government. The implementation of India-UAE CEPA couldn’t have come at a better time, especially when the industry faced various challenges with economic downturns in major export markets and escalating geopolitical concerns, all of which led to the decline in demand.”

Gross export of total gold jewellery for FY24 was up 16.75% at $11230.18 million over the comparative figure of $9618.80 million for the previous year.

Meanwhile, Cut & Polished diamond exports in FY 2023-24 declined by 27.58% to $15967.02 million compared to $22047.72 million in the previous year. “The diamond industry’s decision to voluntarily halt natural rough diamond imports from October 15 to December 15, 2023 helped address demand-supply imbalances and resulted in a positive impact on the prices of polished diamonds as we entered the Q4 of the financial year,” Shah said.

“⁠GJEPC is discussing with global diamond miners the prospect of increased investments in generic promotion of diamonds and diamond jewellery in the US, China, Middle East including India,” Shah added.

Meanwhile, the industry is concerned with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East that may impact the overall exports in the first quarter of FY 2024-25.

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