Diamond prices, which over the course of 2010 saw significant recovery from the global financial crisis that smacked the diamond industry in the last quarter of 2008, are expected to continue rising due to increasing demand for diamonds and diamond jewelry in India and China, the Crisil credit rating agency reports.

In a statement this week, Crisil said that the demand for rough diamonds was expected to climb and that supply would keep pace.

According to Gurpreet Chhatwal, ratings director at Crisil, China and India – both considered major emerging consumer diamond markets – would see a long-term "structural shift in consumer preference for diamond jewelry."

India's Economic Times noted that the markets in these countries saw growth of some 25% in 2010 and comprised about 20% of consumer demand for diamond jewelry, a sharp increase from 2008, when Chinese and Indian consumers accounted for 12% of diamond jewelry demand.

Crisil also said that diamond miners' supply policy would keep rough diamond prices firm in the medium term.