Swiss watch exports returned to slight growth in July, reaching the equivalent of 2.2 billion francs, an increase of 1.6% compared with last year. The cumulative total for the first seven months of the year was therefore 15.2 billion francs (-2.4%).
From the Federation of Swiss Watch Industry…
The month’s growth was mainly due to watches made from precious metals (+12.6%). Conversely, steel products recorded a marked decline (-10.4%). Total export volumes were comparable to those of July 2023 (+0.1%). This situation was partly due to the increase in the number of Other materials items (+13.7%) and the decline in the Steel (-4.0%) and Other metals (-15.9%) categories.
Watches priced at less than 200 francs (export price) achieved the strongest performance in July, increasing +13.7% by value. Watches valued at over 3,000 francs also saw significant growth (+5.4%), helping to offset the marked fall in the 200-3,000 francs segment (-14.4%). Several leading markets recorded steady growth, including the United States (+11.3%), Japan (+25.6%), France (+13.7%), South Korea (+14.1%), Taiwan (+25.3%) and Saudi Arabia (+24.8%). China (-32.8%) and Hong Kong (-19.1%) saw very sharp declines for the sixth month running. The trend in the other main markets was generally positive but with a few exceptions, including Singapore (-1.9%) and Germany (-0.6%).
