March 2020 was a hard time for global economies and had a huge impact on Swiss watch manufactures. With very low numbers for March 2020 due to the pandemic gripped economies, exports grew by over 37%. This trend will most likely continue through the second quarter of the year.

The immense growth can be seen by material and by price category as well. Steel watches dominated March, and other metals grew significantly year over year. Price categories saw huge growth as well, with CHF 500-3000 price category dominating.

Main markets showed what the pandemic did to global economies. China, USA and Hong Kong led the pack, making up around 40% of total market share. Interestingly, if one looks at the 2019/2021 variations, the majority of the top 15 markets are still showing negative variation. This directly shows the slow nature of many economies recovery to the pandemic.

April Predictions
This negative base effect will continue to have an effect on Swiss watch export results. April and May were some of the worst months for watch exports and so we should expect high year over year growth. We predict a growth of 35% for April 2021.

Enjoy!