IDEX Reports Recession Pressures Cause a 2.62% Drop in Polished Diamond Prices Index: Biggest Monthly Drop Since April 2020

The IDEX Polished Price Index reported a 2.62% decline in November, standing at 132.76 – “its biggest monthly drop since April of this year.”  According to the analysis, several factors are “dampening demand and squeezing prices” – uncertainties over the US economy, EU Recession fears for Q-4, the war in Ukraine and China’s Covid lockdowns along with the protests against them.

Month-over-month diamond prices fell 2.4% in November, the same as in October, “and one of the biggest drops in recent years.” Year-to-year polished diamond prices “showed slower growth for an eighth consecutive month in November,” the report continues. Prices grew just 1.8% year-on-year in November – “by far the lowest figure so far of 2022 and could well dip below zero in December.”

Among Rounds, there were price drops in “almost every size category shown in 0.40-carats to 1.00-carat goods.” In addition, prices dropped among stones weighing 5.00 to 5.99 carats, especially below L and VS1. 
Among Fancies, “there were many price rises […] but less movement overall than among rounds and fewer distinct trends.”  Some Fancy prices went up as “consumers turned to cheaper goods.” Price increases dominated the 1.25-carat to 1.49-carat category stones. Larger sizes of 1.50-carats to 4.99-carats “saw a more or less even mix of increases and decreases.”

Long-term, the Index “had been in decline since mid-2018 […] hit a low point in April 2020, with the first lockdowns hit, but the overall trend since then had been upwards.”
According to the analysis, the Index is in decline “faster than in recent months amid ongoing weak consumer demand” with “the overall trend remains down, and decidedly so,” according to IDEX metrics.

Source: IDEX
Photo Credit: FCRF