Polished diamond exports from Israel during the first six months of 2015 were down 16.8%, while rough imports during the same period were down 21%, according to figures released yesterday by the Diamond, Gemstone and Jewelry Administration at the Ministry of Economy.

Between January-June 2015, the country exported polished diamonds worth $2.975 billion, down from the $3.576 billion of polished exports in the same period last year.

Polished diamond imports too declined by 17% from $2.161 billion in H1 2014 to $1.793 billion this year.

The slowdown was also reflected in lower offtake of rough. During the Jan-June 2015 period, rough imports slipped by 21% to $1.623 billion, as compared to $2.054 billion last year.

Rough exports too slowed down by a large 22% from $1.745 billion during the first half of 2014, to $1.361 billion this year.

The figures released by the administrator reveal that the US is not only Israel’s largest market with a 43.9% share in polished exports, its relative importance is up as it accounted for about 39% of total exports in earlier years.

Other important markets include Hong Kong with a 30.7% share, Switzerland with 10.1%, Belgium with 6.5%, England 2.4%, and all others totalling 6.4%.