The United States consolidated its position as the leading sending market, posting an increase of almost 33% and thus completing its 22nd month of very strong growth.
Swiss watch exports recorded the highest result in their history in November at more than 2.4 billion francs. The United States remained the locomotive, ahead of China.
In annual comparison, the surge reached 10.9%. Growth remained at a high level, in the average of the previous ten months, said Tuesday the Federation of the Swiss watch industry (FH). Since the start of the year, the branch has exported the equivalent of 22.8 billion francs, i.e. 11.9% more than in 2021 and 50% more than in 2020.
The United States consolidated its position as the leading sending market, posting an increase of almost 33% and thus completing its 22nd month of very strong growth. Volumes reach 400 million francs. On the other hand, China (-11.5% to 212 million) fell for the second consecutive month, after the recovery displayed during the summer.
Hong Kong (-8.9%) extended its downward trend, while the other main Asian outlets rose sharply, like Japan (+20.2%) and Singapore (+29.1%). Europe posted average growth of 8.4% in November, driven by the United Kingdom (+17.6%), Germany (+14.5%) and Italy (+20.2%). ).
From January to November, the leading trio was dominated by the United States (+28%), followed by China (-13%) and Hong Kong (-10%).
The strongest contribution came from precious metal timepieces (+15.9%), which generated more than half of the growth. The total number of pieces fell slightly, pulled down by steel watches (-16.4%). Over eleven months, the evolution of volumes remained positive (+1.7%).
Both ends of the price ranges stood out. Thus, watches costing less than 200 francs (export price) saw their results increase by more than 15% in value, driven in particular by an increase in the number of pieces exported. At the other end, timepieces costing more than 3,000 francs saw their value and number increase, by 16% and 11% respectively.
The 200-500 franc segment remained in sharp decline as in previous months, while the category between 500 and 3,000 francs stagnated.
