April 2021 showed a sustained recovery in Swiss watch exports coming out of the global shutdown. Watch exports amounted to CHF 1.8 billion, a growth of 2% compared to 2019 and a huge 446% growth from 2020. The 12 month moving average moved north to just above -5%, which will turn positive towards the end of the year if the recovery continues.

Looking at watches by price category shows an interesting story about how the recovery is really shaping up. Compared to 2019, units sold fell by 26% while value grew by 2.5%. Notably, watches below CHF 3,000 fell compared to 2019 while watches above CHF 3,000 saw positive results. This may point to a divided economic recovery - those who have more disposable incoming are able to purchase luxury products and the majority of the economy not recovery as quickly.

Similar markets were in the top 5 for the month of April, which the US and China making up 13.1% and 12.8% respectively. European countries had weak results comparatively, only scratching top 6 with the United Kingdom. Hong Kong and Japan also saw negative results compared to 2019.

May Predictions
The recovery certainly continued into May 2021, and so similar results are probable for the next batch of results from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. If they report compared to 2019 again next month, we predict a growth of 3-4%.

Enjoy!