Swiss watch exports increased significantly again in 2021 and were able to break the previous record from 2014 with an increase to almost 22.3 billion Swiss francs (21.5 billion euros), the industry association announced on Thursday.
Amid the strong rebound in the luxury sector, watch exports rose 2.7 percent compared to 2019, the last year before the pandemic, and also 0.2 percent compared to the previous peak of 2014, the Swiss Watch Industry Federation said in a statement. Compared to 2020, exports increased by 31.2 percent, the Federal Customs and Border Protection Agency said in a separate statement.
Under the shock of the Covid 19 pandemic, Swiss watch exports collapsed in April and May 2020 due to the lack of tourism and shop closures. At the end of the first year of the pandemic, exports were down 21.8 percent.
In 2020, the only good news for watch exports came from China, where sales shifted to local boutiques. In 2021 watch exports recovered first in the United States and then in the Gulf States. According to the industry association, Swiss watch exports to the United States increased by 54.9 percent compared to 2020. They also increased by 23.9 percent to China, 36.5 percent to Singapore and 31.2 percent to the United Arab Emirates
However, in historically important export markets such as Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and France, exports in 2021 were still below pre-pandemic levels. (AFP)