The Swiss watchmaking’s rate of decline continues to slow
Swiss watch exports continued to decline in October, but at the lowest rate (-7.1%) seen over the last nine months. The annual trend should therefore gradually stabilise. Ten months into the year, the sector has seen exports fall by a quarter (-25.8%), pointing to the sharpest decline ever recorded over the last 80 years. Total volumes (-16.0%) continued to show more marked declines. Watches with an export price of over 500 francs saw their value diminish by 5.8% compared with October 2019. The disparities between the main markets became more pronounced. China continued to grow at a steady pace (+15.1%), albeit more slowly than in the four previous months. The United States (-5.3%) remained close to the global average, as in September. Hong Kong (+3.5%) posted a positive figure for the first time since March 2019. Most of Asia remained in the red, with the notable exception of the United Arab Emirates (+22.2%). The most significant declines were in Europe, especially in Germany (-17.3%), France (-38.6%), Italy (-25.5%) and Spain (-27.6%), and to a lesser extent in the United Kingdom (-8.1%).