Swiss enjoy another record year for watch exports

If the global market for Swiss watches is continuing to lose momentum, the country’s manufacturers have not got the memo.

Year-on-year export growth continued at a 5.5% clip into December, contributing to a 7.6% increase for the whole of 2023 and a final total of CHF 26.7 billion.

There was also a rare increase in the volume of watches exported, from 15,788,938 in 2022 to 16,923,059 last year.

There is an expectation that 2024 will see average prices per unit flatten or even fall as new entry level models are introduced, but there is no evidence of a shift towards more affordable watches in the December figures.

The value of precious metal watch exports rose by 9% in the month while steel watches saw an equivalent 2.4% drop.

Steel watches account for around half of the total export value of all Swiss watches.

There are growing concerns over a soft middle to the Swiss watch market. Watches priced below CHF 200 francs saw exports rise by 12.8% in December and those priced at over CHF 3,000 were up by 9.2%.

But the middle CHF 200-3,000 segment shrank by 9%.

Leading markets for Swiss watches

Exports to the UK fell by a hefty 12.1% in December, comfortably the worst-performing major market.

Exports to the United states rose by 11.6%, Hong Kong was up 15.2%, Japan soared by 26.8% and the United Arab Emirates got an 11.8% bump to become the fifth biggest market in the world for Swiss watches in December.

For the full year, the United States was by far the biggest market for Swiss watches, up 7% to a total of CHF 4.2 billion.

China and Hong Kong came second and third, worth CHF 2.8 and 2.4 billion, respectively, last year, and larger than the United States if combined as one market.

Japan and the UK were almost neck-and-neck for fourth and fifth in the league table, with exports worth CHF 1.8 billion compared to CHF 1.7 billion.