Swiss watch exports continued to rise in July and reached their highest monthly value after the record in October 2014, as the Watch Association announced on Thursday.
With a growth of 8.3 percent compared to July 2021, their value was 2.2 billion Swiss francs (almost 2.3 billion euros), according to the monthly statistics of the Swiss Watch Association.
The United States, the main export market for Swiss watchmakers, confirmed the slowdown in growth that began in June but maintained very strong momentum (+13.5%).
After key anti-Covid measures were lifted, China (+18.4 percent), the second largest market for Swiss watches, returned to growth in July after a slower second quarter (-43.3 percent).
The third major sales market for Swiss watches, Hong Kong (-11.9 percent), was unable to improve in July, on the contrary.
As an example of the disparities that still exist in the Asian markets, Singapore (+29.1 percent) recorded a strong increase, while Japan (-1.4 percent) slowed down, although the Swiss Watch Federation classifies this as “probably temporary”. .
In Europe, Swiss watch exports increased by eight percent compared to July last year, with the most important sales markets growing at an above-average rate: +11.8 percent in Great Britain, +11.5 percent in France, +12.6 percent in Germany and +31, 3 percent in Italy, markets whose demand partly depends on tourism.
In the first half of the year, exports of Swiss watches increased by 11.9 percent year-on-year. The Swiss watch industry experienced a very strong recovery last year thanks to the strong upswing in the luxury segment. Watch exports rose 31.2 percent to almost 22.3 billion francs, beating not only pre-pandemic levels but also the previous historic record set in 2014.
While the boom started in the US and spread to Singapore and the Gulf States, the major historic markets where tourists commonly shop for luxury goods, such as Hong Kong, the UK and France, lagged behind.(AFP)
This article was previously published on FashionUnited.fr. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ