A less intense decline for Swiss watchmaking
In spite of certain key markets increasing or remaining stable, watch exports overall continued to fall significantly in July. However, the downturn was only half of that seen in June. Swiss watch exports over the month amounted to 1.6 billion francs, a fall of 17.0% compared with July 2019. Watches priced at over 3,000 francs saw a dip in value of 11.1%. Performance in the main export markets for Swiss watches varied significantly in July. China (+59.1%) posted a second consecutive month of very strong growth. Exports to the United States (-0.6%) were stable compared with July 2019, after three months of extremely poor performance. The situation in Hong Kong (-42.9%) showed no real signs of improving. Surprisingly, the United Kingdom (+2.5%) showed some signs of recovery ahead of other European markets, which were either stable (Germany -1.1%) or down sharply (Italy -33.6% and France -30.6%). Japan, in fourth place (-32.1%), another country deprived of Chinese tourists, remained clearly in the red.