The oldest surviving jewelry was dated to over 40,000 years into our past. Throughout its history, jewelry has been a status symbol—gold, diamonds, platinum, and gems complemented the attires of those who ranked high on the social ladder. Contemporary jewelry industry statistics reveal that the times have changed in some ways. While precious materials are still used to paint a picture of wealth and lavishness, the market dictates a need for ever-changing styles to keep up with the fashion industry trends.
If you are considering buying a piece of jewelry, or you are just wondering how jewelry became so integrated into our everyday lives, keep reading. We gathered the most important statistics about the jewelry industry’s size, segmentation, and recent trends, so you don’t have to.
Top 10 Jewelry Industry Statistics
- The online jewelry market is expected to amount to $19.88 billion by 2024.
- $38.23 billion was the value of the fashion jewelry market in 2021.
- 56% of jewelry buyers are women, compared to 44% of men.
- 81% of consumers avoided going to jewelry stores due to health concerns.
- White gold is the first choice of 35% of women who buy jewelry for themselves.
- Asian countries cover 56.7% of the global jewel exportation.
- Revenue of the world’s largest jewelry company, LVMH Group, amounted to $54.5 billion.
- The most expensive diamond necklace is worth $55 million.
- 77% of Americans wore less jewelry in 2020.
- American households spend an average of $615 a year on watches and jewelry.
World Market Jewelry Stats Explained
How much is the global jewelry market worth, and who is the leader in sales and revenue?
1. The global luxury jewelry market was worth $21.39 billion in 2020.
(Statista)
China has the highest share of the jewelry and watches market revenue, statistics on jewelry market size by the country report. Next in line are the US, Japan, and India.
On top of that, the global jewelry market is predicted to witness a significant increase by 2025, from $230 billion in 2020 to $292 billion.
Lab-created diamonds are expected to be the leading trend in the following years.
2. $38.23 billion was the value of the fashion jewelry market in 2021.
(Statista)
In 2020, the fashion jewelry, aka the costume jewelry market witnessed a growth of $2.6 billion. Based on the jewelry industry statistics from 2019, while the market was worth $32.9 billion in the mentioned year, in 2020, it was valued at $35.5 billion.
Unlike the fine jewelry that’s made of precious metals (like gold, silver, and platinum), costume jewelry (aka fashion jewelry) is made from basic metals (copper, brass, or aluminum), textiles, or leather.
That being said, these pieces have an affordable retail price, which is the main reason behind the fashion jewelry industry statistics. They indicate that the value of this market could reach $60 billion by 2027.
As the name itself suggests, the main purpose of fashion jewelry is to complement different fashion styles. Interestingly, the fashion industry sales statistics show that more than 50% of this market is aimed at women.
3. 38% of surveyed jewelry companies reported an increase in sales of custom-made jewelry in 2020.
(Instoremag)
A recent survey on the jewelry industry trends from 2020 indicates that 23% of the companies that participated in the survey saw an increase in sales of bridal jewelry and colored stones.
It is interesting to note that one in five retailers also reported a rise in diamond jewelry demand.
4. The online jewelry market is expected to amount to $19.88 billion by 2024.
(PR Newswire)
Based on the online jewelry market statistics, there should be a CAGR growth surpassing 15% during 2020–2024.
North America will have a massive contribution to the growth (42%). Major market players will have their say as well, such as HANEL Ltd., Graff Diamonds Ltd., Signet Jewelers Ltd., The Swatch Group Ltd., and so on.
Jewelry Consumer Demographics
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, or not? What age group is the most avid jewelry buyer?
5. In 2018, women accounted for 78% of purchases of women’s jewelry on Lyst.
(Jewelers Mutual)
Statistics from Lyst, one of the world’s biggest fashion platforms, show that women broke the cliché of chivalrous men buying jewelry to surprise women they are interested in.
Since they entered the labor force and became financially independent, the female purchasing power increased, making them the most prominent demographic in the jewelry market segmentation.
The available data shows that most jewelry-purchasing women are 35–55, with stable careers and willing to spend some cash from their credit cards to treat themselves.
6. 56% of jewelry buyers are women, compared to 44% of men.
(GWI)
The highest percentage of buyers, or 35%, are people between 25–34 years old. They are followed by 27% of 16 and 24-year-olds. People aged 35-44 prefer shopping for jewelry even less (22%). Only 4% of people older than 55 spend their money on jewelry.
7. Facts about the jewelry industry show 26% of buyers find information about new brands through celebrity endorsements.
(GWI)
Given that 67% of buyers will be driven by expert opinions before deciding to make a purchase, the power of influencer marketing is pretty high when it comes to jewelry and apparel.
8. According to jewelry industry statistics, 51% of millennial women buy their own jewelry.
(National Jeweler)
Millennial shopping trends suggest that the top reasons for making the purchase were commemorating an event and rewarding themselves for a goal they achieved. Another 14% of millennial female shoppers bought jewelry as a gift, while 18% stated that the jewelry they wear came as a gift from their significant other.
9. The jewelry consumer behavior changed due to the pandemic — only 33% of jewelry retail shoppers continued to visit the stores as before.
(Qudini)
Somewhat surprisingly, 8% started visiting them more often than before the pandemic. On that note, 50% of consumers from high-income households reduced their visits to the jewelry stores, whereas 16% were visiting them more often.
Generally, 69% of shoppers started visiting the jewelry stores less frequently.
10. Coronavirus and jewelry statistics show that 81% of consumers avoided going to the stores due to health concerns.
(Qudini)
51% stated their reason for avoiding jewelry stores was because they started using online shopping, while 36% said they had financial concerns.
Waiting in lines was also one of the concerns for 24% of customers. As a matter of fact, 85% of customers avoided going to the jewelry stores (or didn’t buy a thing) amidst the pandemic due to the long waiting lines.
11. White gold is the first choice of 35% of women who buy jewelry for themselves.
(National Jeweler)
While yellow gold has been the precious metal preferred by humankind for thousands of years, jewelry industry trends show that today only 11% of people opt for it.
Rose gold is the choice of a slightly higher number of jewelry lovers with 13%. Platinum ranks third with 15%, and silver is in second place on the preferred metals list with 17%.
12. 51% of millennials make a decision based on their trust in the retailer.
(Professional Jeweller)
Trust and comfort are the prevailing reasons behind the fact that 40% of millennials choose to get their jewelry from department stores.
The customer experience depends on how the buyers feel they are being treated. Hence the jewelry stores need to adapt to younger generations if they wish to stay in sight of the highest-spending generation.
How Big Is the Jewelry Industry?
Which countries are the largest exporters, and how much jewelry do they produce?
13. Russia owns the biggest diamond reserves in the world.
(Statista)
Russia was the world’s largest diamond producer in 2020. The country has the biggest natural diamond reserves—650 million carats.
Number two on this list is occupied by Botswana with only 310 million carats. DR Kongo and South Africa have almost half of that amount. Australia ranks third with 25 million carats.
14. Asian countries cover 56.7% of the global jewel exportation.
(World Stop Exports)
Jewelry industry statistics also reveal that second place belongs to the European exporters that make 33%, while the US market lags with 9.1%. That said, South America, Australia, and Africa contribute less than 1%.
Global jewelry export in 2019 reached $108.2 billion, which means that the market grew by only 0.2% since 2015 when it was estimated to be $108 billion.
The market did expand, but the worth of exported jewelry experienced a 2.3% drop in 2018, making it hard to see the big picture.
Jewelry industry segmentation data indicates that Asian countries participated with $61.3 billion of shipment value.
15. China consumes 3x more gold than it produces.
(Provident Metals)
China is the number one producer of gold in the world, with an output of 355 metric tons a year. However, the country consumes 984 metric tons a year, thus having to import large quantities of precious metal.
Looking into the list of top consumers of gold among major jewelry markets, India is right behind China, with around 849 metric tons of gold used mainly for jewelry.
16. Indian jewelry market has a 29% share in global jewelry consumption.
(IBEF)
India has more than 300,000 gem traders and a jewelry industry that currently provides jobs for 4.46 million people. The fast-growing market is predicted to reach $103.06 billion by 2023 and almost double the number of employees to over 8.23 million.
Indian jewelry industry trends from 2019 reveal that their gold demand reached 690.4 tonnes.
In 2020, their export of gems/jewelry reached $24.41 billion, whereas, in FY21, their imports amounted to $4.23 billion.
That said, the country’s total gem/jewelry export is 52.4%.
17. In 2020, there was a decrease in the number of jewelry purchases, clocks, and watches in the UK.
(Statista)
Jewelry industry statistics from 2019 show UK households purchased jewelry and watches worth about 8.218 billion British pounds ($11.28 billion).
The highest purchases were made in 2016-9 — $220.59bn. In contrast, in 2020, the total gain amounted to $9.08 billion. That’s some $2.32 billion less than in 2019.
18. Revenue of the world’s largest jewelry company, LVMH Group, amounted to $54.5 billion.
(Tharawat) (The Fashion Law) (Statista) (Statista)
When it comes to jewelry retailing, the undisputed market leader is the French giant LVMH, which rose in 1987 as a merger of Louis Vuitton and the liquor industry’s Moët Hennessy.
Because it’s all about the branding, isn’t it? After all, people prefer buying products from a familiar brand to switching to a new one.
Today, the company owns 5,003 jewelry stores worldwide and employs over 163,000 people. LVMH’s CEO is the richest man in France, Bernard Arnault, whose personal net worth is estimated at $150 billion.
For comparison, the second-largest company among the trending jewelry brands is Chanel, with a reported 13.7 billion of revenue in 2020 and 20,000 employees.
19. The most expensive diamond necklace is worth $55 million.
(Veranda)
L’Incomparable Diamond necklace holds the Guinness World Record at 637 carats. The reason behind its dizzying worth is a yellow 407.48-carat pendant that, as the name suggests, is the biggest flawless diamond ever to be examined at the Gemological Institute of America.
US Jewelry Industry Statistics
What’s the state of the US market regarding precious bling?
20. The jewelry store sales in the US amounted to $32.6 billion in 2019.
(Statista)
The largest jewelry retailer in the US was Signet Jewelers Limited. With about 3,334 stores worldwide, Signet Jewelers Limited managed to earn $6.25 billion through yearly sales of jewelry, watches, and related services.
Tiffany and Co. is the second-largest jewelry retailer in the US, with only about 321 stores around the world, but with global net sales of $4.4 billion.
21. The US jewelry market witnessed a drop in online sales from $8.3 billion in 2019 to $7.5 billion in 2020.
(Oberlo)
The US online jewelry sales have been steadily growing since 2011, reaching their peak in 2019. Due to the pandemic, there was a slight drop in sales in 2020 by 9.7%.
So will the market recover in the following years, or is the jewelry industry dying? The market should start recovering despite the pandemic. It’s estimated that it will reach a 0.7% growth in 2021, reaching over $7.6 billion.
22. There are currently 52,331 jewelry store businesses in the US.
(IBIS)
Compared to the number of businesses in 2020, we see a drop of 1.8%. California is the state that has the highest number of jewelry businesses (2,614), followed by New York (2,170) and Florida (1,881).
23. According to jewelry industry statistics, 77% of Americans wore less jewelry in 2020.
(National Jeweler)
The pandemic caused serious problems to industries, economies, and markets across the world, so it comes as no surprise that people choose to spend less money and wear less jewelry.
The lockdown and the new normal rules also made it harder for people to express themselves through their personal style.
On that note, stats on the jewelry industry in 2020 report that 22% of Americans were buying less jewelry online than before.
However, at the same time, 10% of customers (mostly millennials) reported buying more jewelry during the pandemic, which is actually more in line with the emerging online shopping trends.
24. 86% of engagement rings have diamonds as the center gem.
(The Knot)
No matter how the market changes, diamonds are not likely to go away soon. In 2020, the average cost of an engagement ring was $5,500.
That said, most people would spend $1,000–$3,000 on their engagement ring. Only 11% would buy a ring under $1,000.
What is the jewelry trend for 2020 that is still popular among people when it comes to rings? Alternative stones like moissanite. 26% of people choose moissanite to be the precious stone on their engagement rings.
The most popular metal was white gold, followed by yellow gold and rose gold.
25. Signet Jewelers Ltd. earned $6.1 billion in net sales worldwide.
(Statista) (Statista) (Statista)
Based on the US jewelry industry statistics for 2019, the global net sales of this US online jewelry retailer amounted to $6.2 billion in the mentioned year, and $6.1 billion in 2020. Bridal jewelry was the top-selling product in 2020, amounting to $2.6 billion.
Fashion jewelry took second place on the list, with $2.2 billion.
Signet Jewelers Ltd. currently has 26,126 employees globally. That’s 173 more than it had in 2019 (22,989).
26. Jewelry industry trends show American households spend an average of $615 a year on watches and jewelry.
(EG)
That would also mean that each household would spend roughly $352 on diamond jewelry every year. When it comes to income, households with higher incomes ($200,000 per year) spend about $1,657 on jewelry. Families with annual incomes less than $15,000 spent about $615, which is a bit surprising.
27. People over 55 spend $1,231 a year on jewelry (including watches).
(EG)
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics conducted a Consumer Expenditure Survey, which revealed that well-educated, older citizens are spending more money on jewelry than other demographics.
The figures also show that those who live alone spend an additional 2.6 times more than the average consumer.
FAQs
What is the future of the jewelry industry?
The future’s looking bright, despite the drop caused by the impact of coronavirus. The global jewelry market should be able to recover in the following years. Moreover, it’s expected that it will be valued at $292 billion by 2025 (from $230 billion in 2020).
Due to the pandemic, in March and April 2020, many jewelry stores were closed, which resulted in a drop in US sales by $3.8 billion. However, since the summer, there was an increase in sales by $1 billion, primarily due to engagement rings’ sales.
What jewelry sells the best?
Amidst the pandemic, the bridal-related products, like engagement rings, witnessed a 10%–30% growth in certain retail stores since the couples grew closer together during quarantine.
The new trend in engagement rings includes alternative gemstones like sapphires, shield-cut diamonds, moissanite, and tourmaline. At the same time, jewelry industry statistics confirm that white gold, yellow gold, and rose gold are the most popular metals.
In the pre-covid era, brooches were the best-selling jewelry with a 36% increase in sales. Meanwhile, the sales of bracelets (-2.7%), rings (-3.2%), and necklaces (-8.6%) were in decline.
Who has the most gold in the world?
The United States has the most gold in the world if we disregard the production and consumption data and look closely at the gold reserves of the nations worldwide. As of August 2020, the US owns a staggering 8,133.5 tons, with 79% of foreign reserves.
Germany and Italy take the next two places on the list with 3,363.6 and 2,451.8 tons, respectively. Next in line is France (2,436.0), then Russia (2,299.9), China (1,948.3), and Switzerland (1,040.0).
How much is the jewelry industry worth?
The global jewelry industry market is expected to be valued at $292 billion by 2025. Its worth at the moment is $229.3 billion. As for the luxury jewelry market worldwide, its value is estimated at about $25.4 billion.
The online jewelry market in the US was worth $7.5 billion in 2020. Based on the estimations, it should be worth $7.6 billion in 2021.
Bottom Line
We hope that these jewelry industry statistics provided you with enough information to help you make a purchasing decision or, at least, to satiate your thirst for some trivia.
If you did decide to go ahead and buy something for yourself or a loved one, what will you go with, fashion jewelry or white gold?
Sources:
- Brides
- Edited
- EG
- GWI
- IBEF
- IBIS
- Instoremag
- Jewelers Mutual
- Matter of Form
- National Jeweler
- National Jeweler
- Oberlo
- Professional Jeweller
- Provident Metals
- PR Newswire
- Qudini
- Statista
- Statista
- Statista
- Statista
- Statista
- Statista
- Statista
- Statista
- Statista
- Statista
- Tharawat
- The Fashion Law
- The Knot
- US Funds
- Veranda
- World Stop Exports
