Russian Jewellery Market to Grow by End of 2024

Retail sales in the Russian jewellery market will increase by 16%-20% by the end of the year, experts and industry retailers have calculated. Even the 22% annual price increase for these products is not deterring buyers, Russian daily Kommersant said in a report.

The demand is supported by purchases for investment purposes, as well as new categories of consumers for this segment – families of participants in the special military operation in Ukraine and citizens who used to spend money abroad, but are now forced to do so at home, the report said.

According to data provided to Kommersant by INFOLine-Analytics, an information and consulting agency which offers services in the B2B sphere, jewellery retail volumes in Russia will grow by around 16% year-on-year, to $4.92 billion in 2024.

However, INFOLine-Analytics CEO Mikhail Burmistrov clarified that this was a conservative forecast, since the growth rate may be higher due to rising gold prices and a possible increase in household income, the daily said.

The Sokolov jewellery chain, a family-owned Russian company expects the sales to increase by 20% by the end of this year. Sokolov said that in the first quarter alone, this figure grew by 32.8% year-on-year, to $1.16 billion.

According to Rosstat, the Federal State Statistics Service, average retail prices for jewellery in December 2023 were 22% higher than in the same period of 2022. This was influenced by the increase in the official price of gold by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

Sokolov’s analytical centre said that the average market receipt for jewelry for 2023 increased by 16.3%, to around $8260.

The INFOLine has calculated that three jewellery companies – Sunlight Chain ($87 million, up 49.4% year-on-year), Sokolov ($48 million, up 80.4%), and Zolotoy ($45 million, up 30%) – were among the industry retailers that earned the most.

In addition, at the beginning of 2024, large jewellery retailers collectively increased the number of retail outlets across Russia by 15.8%, to 345,000. At the same time, the PanClub chain (former Pandora) cut its facilities from 108 to 83 stores.

Spurt in Online Sales

Even online sales are growing among jewellery chains and Sokolov said that this segment accounted for 24% of total market sales, while a year earlier it was 19% in 2023. In the first quarter of this year, the share of online sales in the network already reached 28%. Sunlight Chain also reported that in January-March, the share of online sales increased from 32% to 40%.

Stanislav Kartashov, Vice President, Director of the Corporate Clients 360 Division at Russia’s largest Sberbank said that Russians began to buy jewellery more often and the share of such transactions in the first quarter of 2024 increased by 10%.

“It is important for all market participants to take this trend into account. At the same time, the total turnover of the jewellery market in the country increased by 33% compared to last year, and the flower business market increased by 22%,” he added.

Jewellers Association CEO Vadim Serov believes that Russians have an alternative as an investment — gold bars. And most buyers, according to him, consider jewellery as gifts, so the demand for it is constant.

Russian Jewellers Guild Executive Director Vladimir Zboikov said that buying jewellery requires fewer formalities, so it is in demand even for investment purposes.

“But in many ways, demand is supported by a new contingent of families of participants in the special military operation in Ukraine, are buying jewellery. Besides, wealthy Russians who previously bought Western brands while travelling abroad, now prefer to spend money within the country, including on jewellery, helping the market’s growth,” Zboikov added.