Swiss watch exports: January-October 2014 trend

October was a very good month for the Swiss watch industry based on data released by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. Exports attained their highest monthly level with a value of 2.3 billion francs, an increase of 5.2% compared to October 2013. Considering the January-October period, the sector has recorded growth of 3.1%, to 18.4 billion francs.

October was a very good month for the Swiss watch industry based on data released by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. Exports attained their highest monthly level with a value of 2.3 billion francs, an increase of 5.2% compared to October 2013. Considering the January-October period, the sector has recorded growth of 3.1%, to 18.4 billion francs.

Swiss watch exports: 12 months moving average

The positive trend was supported by an increased interest in gold and bimetallic watches. Steel timepieces also exceeded their 2013 level, albeit at a level below the sector average. Exports by volume also showed a marked dynamism, rising by 4.5%. Steel products and the category of other materials contributed strongly to this result.

Swiss watches exports by material in October 2014

Growth was buoyed by the lower and higher price segments. Between the two, the variation was slightly negative. Watches costing less than 200 francs (export price) recorded an increase by volume of 7.0%. Between 200 and 3,000 francs there were downturns in value and volume of 2.6% and 0.9% respectively. Timepieces costing more than 3,000 francs performed very well, with the value of exports rising by 8.0%.

The table below shows the trend in the January-October 2014 period in the fifteen main markets (total value in million Swiss Francs and % variation by comparison with the same period of 2013):

1	Hong Kong	3,463.5	+2.5%
2	USA	1,995.2	+5.5%
3	China	1,205.5	+2.5%
4	Japan	1,119.1	+19.1%
5	Italy	1,013.1	+0.8%
6	Germany	1,008.4	-6.1%
7	France	920.1	-4.5%
8	Singapore	912.1	-1.4%
9	UAE	850.7	+10.2%
10	United Kingdom	786.3	+0.9%
11	South Korea	532.3	+22.1%
12	Spain	381.9	+11.4%
13	Taiwan	367.2	+1.7%
14	Saudi Arabia	326.3	+11.2%
15	Russia	233.7	+5.0%

Japan and South Korea continue their record-breaking trend with the largest increases but they are not the only countries with double digit increases. Germany, France and Singapore register downturns.