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The downturn in Swiss watch exports continued in May. Their value dropped 9.7% compared to last year, to stand at 1.6 billion francs. Over the first five months of the year, the level was lower than that of 2012.
The result for May was penalised mainly by watches in precious metals, whose decline exceeded 20%. Other categories experienced more moderate falls in sales. In volume terms, steel timepieces dragged the level down.
All price segments lost ground, but not in equal measure. As has been the case in recent months, the 500- 3,000 franc range (export price) remained the least affected by the general trend. Although suffering a clear downturn, watches priced below 200 francs also fared slightly better. The contraction was particularly marked between 200 and 500 francs, while timepieces priced at over 3,000 francs also registered a double digit decline.
However for the second month in row the Swiss watch expands scores positive growth in the Middle East markets with U.A.E +5.8%, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia +0.1%, Qatar +22.3%, Kuwait had a dip of -26.0 percent.