Dubai Doubles Down on Lab-Grown Diamonds With New Division

By Sam Cooley | September 02, 2026

Dubai just gave lab-grown diamonds a home of their own.

On Aug. 30, the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) formally split the category from its natural diamond and colored stone operations—a first among major trading hubs, and a bet that lab-growns’ future lies as much in semiconductors as in solitaires. It also comes at a time when midstream players involved in these manmade stones are increasingly concerned about pricing and nomenclature in the trade.

“Lab-grown diamonds have reached the point where they need dedicated market infrastructure and a distinct economic case of their own, developed alongside the natural diamond trade rather than in place of it,” said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the executive chairman and CEO of DMCC, said in a statement.

DMCC’s new vertical will bring together producers, manufacturers, traders, investors, financiers, technology companies, and industrial users. It will remain distinct from DMCC’s natural diamond and colored stone operations.

According to DMCC, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is trading more lab-grown diamonds than ever, hitting a record 76.9 million carats in 2025, a 91.5% jump over the prior year. Volume of trade has more than doubled since 2022, when the UAE was trading 36.8 million carats. Imports and reexports have been growing at broadly similar rates.

More lab-grown diamonds, less value

This remarkable growth comes with a familiar caveat: Volume may be doubling compared with the previous year, but the actual total value of all stones traded has risen only 7.5% (to $1.3 billion in 2025). That works out to an average of roughly $17 per carat in 2025 ($1.3 billion across 76.9 million carats), down from about $30 per carat in 2024 (implied $1.21 billion across roughly 40 million carats)—a drop of more than 40% in a single year.

Last year may have set a record for volume of carats traded, valued at $1.3 billion, but it is still lower than DMCC’s numbers from 2023, where $1.6 billion of lab-growns were traded in the UAE.

In a press release, Bin Sulayem said the biggest opportunity for lab-growns in the future may reach beyond jewelry: diamond wafers, quantum technologies, medical devices, environmental remediation, aerospace systems, and other advanced applications.

“I’ve seen a bit of mistakes the natural diamond industry has made, similarly to the gold industry 10 to 15 years ago. Instead of cooperating and sharing the real narrative, they went and criticized lab-grown diamonds publicly. They had talks, discussions, mocking it, etcetera. But they forget who their audience are,” Bin Sulayem told listeners of “The Business Breakfast” on Dubai Eye 103.8. “There’s a lot more [we can do] and that is where the real money is for the lab-grown diamond industry.”

Photo: Getty Images