Industrial diamond mine production worldwide 2023, by major countries

Mines in Russia produced approximately 18 million carats of industrial diamonds in 2023, making it the world's largest natural industrial diamond producer that year.

What are industrial diamonds?

Industrial diamonds are diamonds that are valued for their extreme level of hardness, but which have either many flaws or irregular shapes and therefore are not aesthetically valuable. For this reason, they are used for industrial purposes. Overall, industrial diamonds have a low value as gems, but they are important in the mining and metalworking industries. They are used for cutting materials as well as polishing other materials including diamonds. They are also sometimes used for drill bits, saws, and as an abrasive.

Comparative diamond production volumes

The production volume of industrial synthetic/lab grown diamonds worldwide has stayed about the same since 2007. In 2021, the global production of synthetic industrial diamonds was about 15.4 billion carats. The total global production of rough diamonds amounted to 116 million carats in 2021. Africa dominates the global production of industrial diamonds, with more than half of all industrial diamonds originating on the continent.