The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH has released its latest report on Swiss watch exports for the month of March 2020. Not unsurprisingly, there was a sharp fall, and a further deterioration is expected for April as a consequence of COVID-19.

Exports fell by 21.9% to 1.4 billion francs. The fall in volume (-43.1%) is being seen by the FH as being more representative of the real state of the watch market. The number of watches exported fell by almost 700,000 in March.

All price segments saw sharp falls in both value and the number of watches, although watches priced at over 3,000 francs (export price) did not perform as poorly.

Most markets declined significantly in March with some notable exceptions. The U.S. (+20.9%) saw a marked growth in the export of watches of 3,000 francs. China (+10.5%) also showed growth after falling by 50% in February. However, neighbouring Hong Kong (-41.3%) fell, and also of note is Italy, which was -57.6%.

[Photo credit : FH]

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