The Northwest Territories ranked third in world diamond production in 2023. The NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines highlighted the data on July 12, citing annual summaries produced by Kimberley Process diamond statistics.

Globally, diamond production has a total value of $17 billion Canadian dollars. Canada contributes to about 12 per cent of that figure, ranking the country third in the world behind Russia and second-place Botswana. The NWT currently accounts for all of Canada's diamond production. 

In U.S. dollars, Canada's diamond sales reached $1.55 billion in 2023. That's a drop from the year before by 17.6 per cent, previously sitting at $1.88 billion.

Diamond production was also down for Canada, though not by as much. Hitting 16 million carats in 2023, its about a two per cent drop from 16.2 million carats in 2022.

The decline also reflects a global trend.

"Global diamond production in 2023 was 112 million carats, down seven per cent from 120 million carats in 2022," the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines noted.

Despite the downturn globally and in the NWT, Chamber of Mines president Kenny Ruptash still says that diamond potential remains high in the territory.

"SA国际影视传媒淲e know the Diavik mineSA国际影视传媒檚 upcoming closure [2026] will reduce our global position, and affect our economy, however, renewed exploration investment could identify new deposits," he stated.

Yellowknife hosted the 12th International Kimberlite Conference from July 8-12. It featured attendees from around the world interested in diamond mining. 

"We are hopeful this will also help reignite exploration interest in the NWT, the worldSA国际影视传媒檚 third-largest diamond producer,SA国际影视传媒� Ruptash added.