During the month under review, the branch shipped watches abroad with a total value of 2.3 billion francs, a decrease of 2.2% compared to October 2023.
Swiss watch exports continued to decline in October, although to a lesser extent than in the previous month. China and Hong Kong once again weighed heavily.
During the month under review, the sector shipped watches abroad with a total value of 2.3 billion francs, a decrease of 2.2% compared to October 2023, announced the Federation of Industry Swiss watchmaker (FH) in a press release on Tuesday. The decline is, however, more moderate than the 12.4% fall recorded in September and is “close to the trend shown since the start of the year,” writes the FH.
Since January, the cumulative value has reached 21.5 billion, a result 2.6% lower than that reached a year earlier.
The number of parts also fell by 170,000 units in October, a decline of 11.2% in annual comparison. The other metals and bimetallic watches segments recorded drops of a third, respectively a fifth, in exported parts, while they fared a little better in terms of value with a maintenance of +0.6%. and a decline of 7.3%. Steel watches also showed a decline, both in value (-7.6%) and in number of pieces (-9.2%), as did those made of precious metals (-1.2% and -4. 7%).
Watches with an export price of more than 3,000 francs are the only ones to show an increase in the exported value, although slight, at 1.7%. Conversely, the 500-3000 segment recorded a clear decline (-21%), as did that of entry-level watches (-9.4%).
The main outlets show contrasting developments, with strong increases observed in Japan (+20.4%), which thus confirms its second position acquired last month, and in the United States (+11.3%). At the other extreme, China (-38.8%) and Hong Kong (-14.8%) represent a “major brake at the global level”, underlines the FH. Europe is holding steady (+0.2%), Spain (+16.9%) and the United Kingdom (+2.8%), offsetting the decline in Germany (-5%), the France (-4.5%) and Italy (-1.4%).
This news did little to move stock market prices. Shortly after the opening in Zurich, Swatch, which owns the Omega, Breguet and Longines brands, dropped 0.1% to 166.45 francs, while Richemont, at the head of Jaeger-Le Coultre and Roger Dubuis, gained 0. 2% to 121.45 francs, in an SLI up 0.28%.
