The country's gems and jewellery exports contracted by 6.77 per cent to USD 20.74 billion in April-November this fiscal, mainly on account of demand slowdown in major developed markets.

According to the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) data, exports stood at USD 22.24 billion in April-November period of 2017-18. The labour-intensive sector contributes about 14 per cent to the country's overall exports. The decline in shipments is mainly due to negative growth in the export of silver jewellery, gold medallions and coins, along with a rise in the return of consignments.

As per the data, silver jewellery shipments during the period dipped by 82.6 per cent to USD 503 million. Similarly, export of gold medallions and coins contracted by 84.7 per cent during the eight months of 2018-19. Shipments of rough diamonds too reported a negative growth of 13.4 per cent. But, exports of cut and polished diamonds grew by 6 per cent to USD 16.5 billion during the period under review. Gold jewellery shipments increased to USD 8 billion during the period from USD 6 billion in April-November last fiscal.

India's main export destinations are the US, Europe, Japan and China. America accounts for about one-fourth of the country's total gems and jewellery exports. During the period, consignments worth about USD 6 billion were returned compared with USD 5.4 billion in April-November 2017. China is the biggest competitor of India in the sector. Imports of gems and jewellery too dipped by 12.41 per cent in April-November 2018-19 to USD 17.7 billion. Imports of rough diamonds contracted 13.27 per cent, while that of gold bar jumped to USD 5.5 billion during the period as against USD 3.3 billion in April-November 2017.