Watchmaking: Swiss exports up again in April

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The Swiss watchmaking federation announced on Thursday that the sector’s exports continued to grow in April. Exports to the USA, however, fell back, marking the first decline in over two years.

 

After an excellent start to the year, Swiss watch exports maintained their strong growth in April. “Watch exports continued to grow strongly in April”, the watchmaking federation reported on Thursday.

 

These exports thus recorded an increase of 6.8% compared with April 2022, once again surpassing the 2 billion Swiss francs mark, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH) reported on Thursday. The cumulative total for the first four months shows an increase of 10.5%. In 2022, they had reached a record level of 24.8 billion Swiss francs.

 

In Europe, exports rose by 6% in April, driven in particular by France (+18.9%) and the UK (+9.8%). Swiss watchmakers are eagerly awaiting the return of Chinese tourists to the Old Continent, following a boom in sales to American and Middle Eastern tourists last year. In mid-May, the chairman of Swiss luxury group Richemont, which owns the Cartier, IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre brands, said he expected Chinese tourists to return gradually to Europe, not least because flight prices were expected to ease.

 

Exports to the USA down

 

According to the watchmaking federation, exports of Swiss watches to the USA fell by 4.9% year-on-year in April, due to a very high basis of comparison after a long phase of growth. This confirms watchmakers’ concerns about a possible downturn in this market in recent months.

 

The USA was the first market to recover in 2021 after the initial shock of the Covid-19 pandemic, triggering a very strong expansion phase for the Swiss watchmaking sector over the last two years. However, this downturn across the Atlantic was offset by a spectacular increase in exports to China in April. Swiss watchmakers are counting on this market to pick up the slack: exports to the Middle Kingdom more than doubled compared to April 2022, when exports were heavily impacted by the Shanghai confinement.

 

Positive trends

 

Precious metal and bimetallic watches played a greater role in growth, while steel watches remained at the same level as in April 2022. The strong increase in volumes (+18.8%) was mainly attributable to the “Other materials” category (+89.9%), with an increase of 185,000 units in one month. Watches selling for less than 200 Swiss francs (export price) recorded strong growth in April (+26.2% in value). The segment of watches worth between 200 and 500 francs returned to a downward trend after the rise recorded in March. Watches worth more than 500 francs, on the other hand, recorded an average increase in value of 6.8%.

 

 

Read also >Swiss watchmaking: growth strengthened in March 2023

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The Swiss watchmaking federation announced on Thursday that the sector’s exports continued to grow in April. Exports to the USA, however, fell back, marking the first decline in over two years.

 

After an excellent start to the year, Swiss watch exports maintained their strong growth in April. “Watch exports continued to grow strongly in April”, the watchmaking federation reported on Thursday.

 

These exports thus recorded an increase of 6.8% compared with April 2022, once again surpassing the 2 billion Swiss francs mark, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH) reported on Thursday. The cumulative total for the first four months shows an increase of 10.5%. In 2022, they had reached a record level of 24.8 billion Swiss francs.

 

In Europe, exports rose by 6% in April, driven in particular by France (+18.9%) and the UK (+9.8%). Swiss watchmakers are eagerly awaiting the return of Chinese tourists to the Old Continent, following a boom in sales to American and Middle Eastern tourists last year. In mid-May, the chairman of Swiss luxury group Richemont, which owns the Cartier, IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre brands, said he expected Chinese tourists to return gradually to Europe, not least because flight prices were expected to ease.

 

Exports to the USA down

 

According to the watchmaking federation, exports of Swiss watches to the USA fell by 4.9% year-on-year in April, due to a very high basis of comparison after a long phase of growth. This confirms watchmakers’ concerns about a possible downturn in this market in recent months.

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The Swiss watchmaking federation announced on Thursday that the sector’s exports continued to grow in April. Exports to the USA, however, fell back, marking the first decline in over two years.

 

After an excellent start to the year, Swiss watch exports maintained their strong growth in April. “Watch exports continued to grow strongly in April”, the watchmaking federation reported on Thursday.

 

These exports thus recorded an increase of 6.8% compared with April 2022, once again surpassing the 2 billion Swiss francs mark, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH) reported on Thursday. The cumulative total for the first four months shows an increase of 10.5%. In 2022, they had reached a record level of 24.8 billion Swiss francs.

 

In Europe, exports rose by 6% in April, driven in particular by France (+18.9%) and the UK (+9.8%). Swiss watchmakers are eagerly awaiting the return of Chinese tourists to the Old Continent, following a boom in sales to American and Middle Eastern tourists last year. In mid-May, the chairman of Swiss luxury group Richemont, which owns the Cartier, IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre brands, said he expected Chinese tourists to return gradually to Europe, not least because flight prices were expected to ease.

 

Exports to the USA down

 

According to the watchmaking federation, exports of Swiss watches to the USA fell by 4.9% year-on-year in April, due to a very high basis of comparison after a long phase of growth. This confirms watchmakers’ concerns about a possible downturn in this market in recent months.

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Thanks to its extensive knowledge of these sectors, the Luxus + editorial team deciphers for its readers the main economic and technological stakes in fashion, watchmaking, jewelry, gastronomy, perfumes and cosmetics, hotels, and prestigious real estate.

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