Botswana exported $3.01 billion worth of diamonds in 2010, an all-time record in terms of the local currency – the pula – but still short of the record year 2006 in US dollar terms, when the country's diamond exports totaled $3.41 billion.

The numbers, released Friday by the Bank of Botswana and reported on the Mmegi.bw news website, confirmed diamond industry assessments that 2010 would be a banner year for the country's diamond sector.

An export total of $3.01 billion is attributable to record prices in the market rather than high production levels. In fact, Botswana's diamond production in 2010 was approximately 23 million carats, the second-lowest level in 11 years after the 2009 nadir of 17.7 million carats.



Botswana has yet to resume production at the level of 2006, in which the country produced 34.3 million carats of rough diamonds.