India's exports as well as imports of gems and jewellery fell in October 2025, industry body Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has informed the ministry of commerce. The fall has been recorded on a year-on-year basis, which means that the comparison is with October 2024, and removes most seasonal effects.

The GJEPC, set up under the ministry of commerce as the apex body for the sector, has recorded a steep fall of 30.57% in gems and jewellery exports in October 2025. Imports fell just over 19% over October 2024, it said in November.

Reasons for the decline in exports include softer demand in the United States, United Kingdom and other destinations for luxury items such as gold jewellery. The other reason is fluctuations in bullion prices, which may lead buyers to reduce or delay orders. Bullion refers to the raw material in gold and silver jewellery, and when its prices fluctuate widely, exporters’ margins also get squeezed.

Since India imports the raw materials (rough diamonds, gold, silver) mainly for processing and re-export, therefore, when export demand slows, import demand also naturally drops.

The same forces that are hurting India's exports are making gold purchases costlier for regular consumers of gold – buyers of gold jewellery, those who plan to invest in gold or expect to do wedding purchases.

Besides, the gems and jewellery sector employs at least 50 lakh people and contributes around 7% to the overall GDP, according to a Union government statement from April 2025.

Overall gems and jewellery exports for the period April to October, 2025 have fallen too, compared to the exports in April - October 2024. GJEPC pegs the fall at 2.72%. However, imports grew between April to October this year and last year, by just over 3% it said.

Exports in October this year of cut and polished diamonds – a major commodity for India in value terms – fell almost 27% compared with the same period last year. This was a drop many had seen coming early in the year, as Reuters reported in April. Imports, too, fell nearly 36% in the same period.

There was a drop in the carat value of exports of cut and polished diamond, which GJEPC has pegged at nearly 8%.

High tariffs in the U.S. market also contributed to the situation in October 2025. That is, the October decline can be explained by tariff-related uncertainty and shifts in timing of pre-orders. All of these factors and more impacted a sector already affected by rising labour costs and competitive pressure from newer and more innovative global markets – apart from the fall in the value of the rupee compared with the dollar.

Pre-orders of jewellery and gold in anticipation of the festival season as well as expectations of higher tariffs would account for the drop in gold exports and imports in October this year. But it is the longer-term headwinds the sector faces – especially rise in costs of gold and silver – that has contributed to the situation GJEPC records for the April - October period.

Persistently weak demand from China, which had been experiencing a slowdown, has also hurt India's diamond sector. This adds to the troubles caused by India's falling market share in worldwide sales of gems and jewellery.

In value terms, there was only a slight drop in imports of rough diamonds between April and October 2025, compared with the same period last year. However, in volume (carat) terms, the fall in imports was more steep, at 6.5%.

Lab grown diamonds showed a similar trend – exports fell nearly 35% (dollar terms) in October 2025 compared with October 2024.

Plain and studded gold jewellery exports fell 28% year-on-year in October 2025, whereas total (gross) gold jewellery exports grew year-on-year when the April to October period for 2025 and 2024 are compared. The growth was nearly 12% in April - October 2025 compared with the same period last year.

Since late 2024, buyers have been pushed towards gold purchases due to rising economic uncertainty in China, sluggish growth in the U.S. market and lingering inflation concerns. Gold grew more expensive – but also more worth holding – for both consumers and long-term investors.

In the first half (April-September) of 2025, overall gems and jewellery exports from India grew a "modest 3.66%" according to the GJEPC, compared to a year before, with gold jewellery as the main engine of growth. The report said, "The substantial rebound starting in July indicates a sudden and immediate need for stock replenishment globally, possibly in anticipation of holiday seasons."

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