Botswana's polished diamond exports amounted to $247.5 million in September and $2.05 billion in the first nine months of 2010, the Bank of Botswana announced Wednesday morning.

The monthly figure, which is a 45% increase over September 2009, marks a continued revival of diamond trading in Botswana, which is one of the world's largest diamond suppliers and De Beers' main source for rough diamonds.

Yearly numbers show a growth of some 45% over 2009, with monthly exports of $228.2 million on average, a number that comes close to pre-crisis data from before 2008, when average monthly exports stood at $270-280 million. Like other diamond suppliers, Botswana was hit hard in the wake of the global economic downturn. Sales trends reversed in April 2009, and have been steadily rising ever since as the world diamond trade slowly recovers.