Watch industry clocks up record exports

The growth of Swiss exports levelled off in November, increasing by 0.9 per cent compared with the previous year to SFr17.8 billion ($19 billion).

Imports on the other hand slumped 6.7 per cent on the previous year – down to SFr14.8 billion – as well as the previous month (-7.4 per cent).

This drop in imports resulted in the trade balance for November – SFr3 billion – being the second-highest ever measured, the Federal Customs Administration said on Tuesday.

It added that, compared with October and seasonally adjusted, the import figures were down two per cent.

Among the better-performing sectors were the watch industry, where exports increased 16 per cent to a record SFr2 billion, and the pharmaceutical industry, where exports went up 4.3 per cent to SFr5.5 billion.

Losers included the paper and graphics industry and the machine and electronics industry, where exports fell 17.2 per cent and 10.3 per cent respectively.