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The trend of Swiss watch exports remained sharply negative in April. Their value was down 11.1% compared to April 2015, at 1.6 billion francs. Over the first four months of the year, the downturn stands at -9.5%.
Precious metal watches were hardest hit in April and exerted a clear downward effect on the overall result. The slump in steel timepieces, although fifty per cent less marked, was very significant nonetheless. In volume terms, steel products and those in the category of other metals registered steep declines.
Watch exports to Hong Kong continued to falter for the fifteenth consecutive month. The United States on the other hand showed an improvement, albeit modest. After a very promising start to the year, Japan saw its result fall in April. Europe suffered a marked decline, particularly in Italy (-12.3%), Germany (-11.1%) and especially France (-31.4%). China’s position has deteriorated considerably in recent months, with a result for April of -36.0%.
During the same period watch exports to UAE recorded 26.4% growth supported by similar double digit growth in Kuwait at 13.1% and Qatar recorded a massive 104.5% growth. Saudi Arabia deducted at -34.4%.