The figure was averaged from wholesale prices for diamonds across all pink colours, intensities and sizes, and was compiled from trading data gathered in Hong Kong, New York, and Tel Aviv.
Over the same time period, blue diamond prices rose by 81 per cent, while yellow diamond prices increased by 21 per cent.
The FCRF has tracked pricing information for blue, pink, and yellow diamonds since 2005. Its records indicate that the prices for pink diamonds saw the most dramatic increase between 2009 and 2014, and have reached a plateau since then.
Meanwhile, blue diamonds saw a steady increase in value from 2015 onwards, while yellow diamond prices have remained largely stable since 2010.
However, figures from Q4 of 2019 showed flat prices, or modest declines, across all three colours when compared with the previous quarter, and Q4 of 2018.
Jim Pounds, a member of the FCRF Advisory Board, attributed the results to a “ripple effect caused by the double-digit [price] decrease in the colourless [diamond] category in the last few years”.
He added that the FCRF expected colour diamond prices to begin rising again in 2020 due to reduced supply: “From the mining perspective, we are currently experiencing a shortage in high quality fancy colour rough, and we therefore feel quite optimistic about the future,” he said.
The world’s premier source of pink diamonds, Western Australia’s Argyle Mine, is scheduled to close at the end of this year – reducing supplies by 90–95 per cent. Argyle is also a major source of blue diamonds.
The Ellendale Mine, which is also located in the Kimberley and once produced half the world’s yellow diamonds, has lain dormant for five years. Canada’s Ekati Mine, another source of yellow diamonds, recently transitioned from open-pit to underground mining, substantially reducing its output.
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