Exports of Swiss watch industry registered a drop of 6.9%, lower than in September 2017, it was a first monthly fall since April 2017. However as per the FH after 9 months the growth of the Swiss watch exports remained strong at 7.5% in line with the forecasts and it was too soon to view this drop as a significant trend change.
Swiss Watch Exports in the main markets reported varying performance in the month of September. China (+17.3%) confirmed the strong upturn observed in August, Japan (+2.4%) has nevertheless seen its growth slacken distinctly in the last four months. Hong Kong (-3.5%), which had experienced no weakness for nearly one and a half year, saw its value diminish by a few points while remaining on a very sustained trend. The United States (-3.0%) also fell slightly but with no significant influence on the medium-term trend. while the United Kingdom was 2.0% lower. Still in positive territory, Singapore for its part (-49.4%) suffered a very unfavourable base effect linked to the exceptional sales figures for September 2017.
While in middleeast Swiss Watch Exports registered a growth in Saudi Arabia (+2.2%), Oman (+152.4%), Bahrain (+27.5%) and Qatar by (10.0%), however UAE and Kuwait dropped by (-15%) & (-38.2%).