The Lebanese balance of trade for precious metals (gold, diamonds, articles of jewelry, silver, platinum, pearls and precious stones) has been in the red for the past four years at the exception of 2012. In 2014, imports of precious metals totaled $976.20M and outweighed exports of $544.27M resulting in a deficit of $431.93M or 1% of GDP.
It’s mainly gold that lies at the heart of the Lebanese trade of precious metals. In fact, gold represented 67% of precious metals exports in 2014 and 67% of imports. Diamonds are the second most important constituent of precious metals’ trade with a share of 17% and 23% in exports and imports, respectively. Articles of jewelry fall in next with an 11% share in total exports and 4% share in imports while precious stones represented 4% of precious metals’ exports and 3% of precious metals’ imports.
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Gold- An Essential Component in Lebanon’s Trade of Precious Metals