Swiss Watch Industry Export Statistics - June 2020

After a steep decline from last month, Swiss watch exports showed some signs of a recovery in the month of June. Exports declined by -35%, slightly better than what we predicted in last months report coming in at just over CHF 1 billion.

While the 12 month moving average has taken a big nose dive south in recent months, it has slightly tapered off at around a -15% contraction. While one data point is not conclusive, it appears that some sort of plateau in export declines may be forming.

Compared to the last two months, watches by metal and price segment look better, but still display a battered industry. Declines in metals ranged from -20% all the way up to -62% which was for ‘other materials’ category. Both units and value of all watch price segments also saw declines. The most affected price segment were for watches under CHF200.

The top 6 markets still were dominated by China, who have eased a lot of their lock-down restrictions and have restarted commerce. There were other positive signs from countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain who who saw positive year over year growth in their export results of Swiss watches.

July Predictions

Without putting too much weight into the plateau that may be forming in the 12 month moving average of watch exports, many economies have started to reopen. The reopening’s will undoubtedly lead to more people being comfortable buying from stores. It will also encourage companies to hire which will hopefully lead to more disposable incoming in the watch communities pocket. We predict a contraction of around -30% which stems from the fact that the pandemic is still spreading.