Ever wondered why the price of a new set of darts seems to climb higher every time you look? You’re not alone. The soaring cost of darts is a double-edged dart, driven by both the game’s unprecedented surge in popularity and a dramatic global increase in the demand for tungsten – the rare, dense metal essential for crafting quality darts. With tungsten prices quadrupling in just over a year and no relief in sight, your favorite darts are becoming a luxury item, making it wise to consider purchasing them sooner rather than later if you can.
The Heart of the Dart: Understanding Tungsten
When you pick up a quality dart, you’re holding a marvel of engineering, largely thanks to a crucial element: tungsten. This is no ordinary metal; it’s an incredibly strong, dense, and heavy compound, making it the perfect material for crafting the sleek, precise barrels that define a professional dart.
- Why Tungsten? Its remarkable weight and density allow manufacturers to create slimmer darts without sacrificing the essential mass needed for stable flight. This means players can group their darts closer together on the board, leading to higher scores.
- A Rare Commodity: Tungsten is not only powerful but also quite rare. Its global supply is heavily concentrated, with China accounting for over 80% of the world’s production. This scarcity naturally contributes to its high price.
The 90% Tungsten Sweet Spot
You might have noticed that most high-quality darts are advertised as 80% or 90% tungsten, not 100%. There’s a good reason for this:
- Strength vs. Brittleness: While 100% tungsten sounds impressive, it would make darts incredibly brittle and prone to breaking with every bounce-out. A small percentage of other metals (like nickel or iron) is added to create an alloy that is both dense and durable.
- Cost Factor: Pure tungsten darts would also push prices even higher, making those reliable £50 sets a distant memory and rendering them practically unusable due to frequent breakage.
The “Littler Effect”: Darts Popularity Soars
Beyond the material itself, the game of darts is experiencing an unprecedented boom. Thanks to new stars like Luke Littler, the sport has captured the attention of thousands, drawing in new fans and players like never before.
- Unprecedented Demand: Social media is awash with players sharing their darting journeys, and everyone wants to emulate their heroes. This surge in interest has led to a massive increase in demand for darts, particularly those used by top players.
- Premium Player Darts: In the last year, we’ve seen player-endorsed darts released for well over £100, with special collaborations fetching even higher prices. And consumers are eagerly snapping them up, further fueling the price spiral.
Tungsten’s Global Appeal: Beyond the Oche
It’s not just the dartboard driving up tungsten prices. This versatile metal is in high demand across a multitude of industries, where its strength and durability are invaluable when combined with other metals.
Major industries increasing their reliance on tungsten include:
- Aerospace: For components requiring extreme durability and heat resistance.
- Defense Spending: In weaponry and protective gear.
- Technological Energy Developments: For its unique properties in various energy applications.
This widespread industrial demand, coupled with factors like reduced tungsten mining in China and stricter environmental regulations, creates a perfect storm, significantly driving up the global cost of raw tungsten.
The Alarming Price Hike of Tungsten
The numbers speak for themselves. The price of tungsten has seen a staggering increase in a remarkably short period:
- Early 2025: Approximately $44.82 per kilogram. At this price, 1kg could produce roughly 10-15 sets of darts (excluding other manufacturing costs).
- Late 2025 (December 19th): The price skyrocketed to $136.63 per kilogram – more than tripling in less than a year.
- Today (early 2026): The cost of one kilogram of tungsten now stands at an astonishing $224.37. This represents an approximate 400% price increase since the start of 2025 alone!
When you combine this unprecedented rise in raw material cost with the booming popularity of darts, the reasons behind the “flying prices” of your favourite sets become crystal clear.
What This Means for Dart Players
Sadly, the price of tungsten is not expected to decrease anytime soon, and consequently, neither are the prices of your favourite darts. The impact of the sport’s rising popularity and the newfound celebrity status of players, while exciting, is undeniable.
However, this pales in comparison to the immense and growing global demand for tungsten, which has driven the metal’s price to historic highs with no signs of stopping. Therefore, if you’ve been eyeing a new set of darts and it’s financially sensible for you, my advice is to acquire them as soon as possible. If a new set isn’t in the cards right now, don’t despair – head to the pub, enjoy a game with friends using their darts, and embrace the spirit of the sport, because it’s only going to get more expensive!
Source: Based on an article from Darts Planet TV.
