Hong Kong imported nearly 14.5 million carats of polished diamonds in the first half of 2011, compared to the 13.6 million carats of polished imported in the corresponding period of 2010, figures published by the Diamond Federation of Hong Kong demonstrate.

Hong Kong's exports and re-exports of polished diamonds in the first half reached 11.1 million carats, compared to 10.2 million carats in H1 2010.

India was the largest supplier of polished diamonds (10.2 million carats), followed by the US, mainland China, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel.

Some 6.2 million carats of polished diamonds were re-exported to India. 2.23 million carats were sent from Hong Kong to mainland China.

Trade in rough diamonds was also up in the first half, totaling 12.2 million carats. Imports of rough diamonds rose to 6.7 million carats compared to 6.1 million in the corresponding period of 2010. The largest rough supplier was India, followed by Switzerland, Belgium, and Israel.

Rough diamond exports and re-exports stood at 5.5 million carats compared to 5.3 million carats in H1 2010.