Diamond jewellery demand will recover to pre-pandemic levels between 2022 and 2024, with China leading the way, a report commissioned by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre predicted.

Demand recovery will diverge depending on lockdown policies, government support, and the extent to which retailers manage to shift sales online, said the report by consulting group Bain. The diamond industry was already under stress before 2020, but although the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated this, the report said it is well placed to recover.

“We strongly believe that the industry is in very good shape for a strong rebound,” Olya Linde, a partner at Bain, said. China's diamond jewellery demand will recover fully this year, while in India it will only recover by end-2023 or 2024, with the US expected to recover by 2022-2023.