Gems and jewellery exports declined 8.5 per cent to USD 22.41 billion in April-December this fiscal, mainly on account of slowdown in demand in major developed markets.

According to data from the GJEPC, exports stood at USD 24.5 billion in the April-December period of 2017-18.The labour-intensive sector contributes about 15 per cent to the country's overall exports.

The decline in shipments is mainly due to negative growth in the export of silver jewellery, gold medallions and coins, along with a rise in the return of consignments.

As per the data, silver jewellery exports during the period dipped 81.37 per cent to USD 579 million.

Similarly, outbound shipments of gold medallions and coins contracted 84.7 per cent during the nine months of 2018-19. Shipments of rough diamonds also reported a negative growth of 13 per cent.

But, exports of cut and polished diamonds grew about 4 per cent to USD 17.9 billion during the period under review.

Gold jewellery shipments increased to USD 8.77 billion during the period from USD 6.83 billion in April-December 2017-18.

India's main export destinations are the US, Europe, Japan and China. America accounts for about one-fourth of the country's total gems and jewellery exports.

During the period, consignments worth about USD 6.5 billion were returned, compared with USD 5.4 billion in April-December 2017.

Imports of gems and jewellery also dipped 14.83 per cent in April-December 2018 to USD 20.2 billion.

Imports of rough diamonds contracted 14.34 per cent, while that of gold bar jumped to USD 6 billion during the period as against USD 4 billion in April-December 2017.