A June 2026 industry analysis described Sri Lanka's gem trade as standing at a crossroads. Export earnings showed modest early-year growth, yet the country still captures only a thin slice of the global gemstone and jewellery market despite centuries of mining heritage.
Informal exports remain the elephant in the room. When most stones leave outside tracked channels, policymakers lack leverage on statistics, tax, and enforcement. Formalization is not bureaucracy for its own sake; it is how a state backs a hub claim with data.
Value addition is the second gap. Shipping rough or barely worked stones forfeits margin that Thailand and India capture routinely. The rough export gazette and Geuda rules tension directly with jewellery export ambitions.
Exhibitions and experience centres help visibility, but the analysis argues sustained growth needs technology investment, skilled labour, consistent regulation, and harder action on illegal mining and smuggling. Our view: buyers reward transparency now; policy must catch up to what honest dealers already practice.