Swiss watch exports in June suffered their steepest fall this year and declined 16 percent to CHF1.6 billion compared with the same month in 2015, reflecting the difficulties with which the branch has had to contend for many months.
Precious metal watches were the worst performers with a decline of almost one-third or 31 percent. Steel or bimetal timepieces were distinctly less affected, although still in negative territory. The other materials category had a major impact on the general decline in volumes.
Watches priced between CHF500 and CHF3,000 are the only ones to have avoided a double digit decrease. They followed the same trend as in the past 12 months. The CHF200-500 category posted the steepest falls. Timepieces priced above CHF3,000 also lost nearly 20 percent in value as compared to June 2015.
In June, all the principal markets were in decline. Hong Kong reported a steep downturn for the 17th consecutive month, while other Asian markets including Japan and mainland China were less seriously affected. Performance in the United States was better than average, but still in distinctly negative territory. Europe also saw steep falls, especially in Italy, Germany, France and the UK.
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