In October, more timepieces were once again exported abroad compared to the same month last year, despite growing economic risks and tensions in the Middle East. The export record of the previous year is now within reach.
In October 2023, watch exports rose by 5.1% to CHF2.39 billion compared to the previous year, as the Federal Office of Customs and Border Security and the Association of the Swiss Watch Industry announced on Tuesday. Exports grew by around 4% in September and August.
Looking at the first ten months, this still represents a plus: from January to October, watch exports increased by 8.3% compared to the previous year. There is now much to suggest that the industry will break the export record of CHF24.8 billion from the previous year.
The watch industry is recording solid growth, the watch association writes in its statement. Compared to the strong increase in the first half of the year, growth has weakened somewhat, but the industry is still growing at a high level.
The development in the reporting month of October was primarily influenced positively by the strong increase in the “Other metals” (+14%) and “Bimetals” (+13%) categories. But exports of watches made of precious metals (+7.9%) also increased well. Meanwhile, steel watches fell by 2% compared to the previous year.
The industry has grown significantly in China (24%) and Hong Kong (+17%). In both cases, the strong increases were also due to the low previous year’s levels, which were impacted by the corona pandemic. In contrast, exports to other Asian markets such as Japan (-2.7%) and Singapore (-9.8%) fell.
The largest sales market, the United States, continued to grow well, although less strongly than in the past (+5.0%). Meanwhile, there is a mixed picture in Europe: While markets such as Great Britain (+7.7%), France (+6.2%) and Italy (+2.7%) grew, exports to Germany developed (-12% ) and Spain (-2.5%) declined.
Looking at price categories, the cheap segments with export prices of under CHF200 and between CHF200-500 were on the rise. Exports in Swiss francs increased by 17% and 11%, respectively. The reason for this is probably the popular Swatch models in the design of the luxury brands Omega and Blancpain. Exports of expensive watches (over CHF3,000) grew by 6.2%.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Related Stories
Popular Stories
More
International Geneva
A Geneva-based global health foundation came close to ‘collapse’. Where were regulators?
Swiss-EU treaties: signatures handed in for Kompass initiative
This content was published on
The committee behind the Compass Initiative submitted the signatures it had collected to the Federal Chancellery on Friday.
This content was published on
Esther Grether has died aged 89. Considered one of Switzerland’s leading entrepreneurs, the owner of the Basel-based Doetsch Grether Group was also a major shareholder in the Swatch Group and an art collector.
This content was published on
The flag of the Swiss Wrestling Federation has been received at the start of the Swiss Wrestling and Alpine Festival in Mollis, canton Glarus.
Figurine heads in Zurich school not considered discriminatory
This content was published on
The 16 carved figurine heads in the auditorium of the Hirschengraben school building in Zurich are not discriminatory, according to an independent expert report.
Swiss political parties report income of CHF22.4 million for 2024
This content was published on
Ten parties reported income totalling CHF22.4 million for 2024, less than in the 2023 election year. The reports are based on the regulations for transparency in political financing.
FIFA loses multi-million lawsuit against Blatter and Kattner
This content was published on
Former FIFA officials Joseph Blatter and Markus Kattner do not have to pay back their own bonuses or the bonus totalling CHF 23 million paid to another FIFA official to FIFA. This was decided by the Zurich Labour Court.
How cancer cells makes healthy cells work for them
This content was published on
Cancer cells manipulate neighbouring cells for their own purposes: a research team at ETH Zurich has discovered that they can reprogram neighbouring cells in such a way that they help the tumour to grow.
This content was published on
The ban on non-residents entering the swimming pool in Porrentruy, canton Jura, expires on Sunday and would be extended until the end of the season, the mayor said.
Natural disasters: most Swiss back forced resettlement
This content was published on
The authorities should be allowed to order forced relocations if there is a medium-term risk of a natural event, according to 58% of participants in a survey.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.