The opportunities for recovery are broadening for the Swiss watch industry. The impact of the pandemic and coronavirus restrictions on some of the world‘s economic activities is still being felt, but export performance is improving, albeit slowly. In month of February the export of Swiss watches it stood at 1.59 billion francs (1.44 billion euros), with only a slight decrease (-0.3%) compared to a year earlier. As for the first two months of this year as a whole, exports amounted to 3.19 billion francs (2.88 billion euros), i.e. -5.9% compared to the same period in 2020. .
Export in February, towed by China and the USA
If we consider that for the whole of 2020 the decline was 21% and that in January of this year the decline was 11% (partly due to one less working day), we note how the contraction exports are fading. The driving forces are Asia (mainland China in particular), the Middle East, the USA.
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For the other main areas, including Europe, greater difficulties remain. This is the trend of exports to the ten major markets in February: USA + 8.8% (first growth in eleven months), China + 161% (a year before there was a strong fall), Hong Kong + 9.2% (the positive sign returns here after many declines), Japan -1%, United Kingdom -7%, Singapore -17.5%, United Arab Emirates + 8.9% (the expected rebound), Germany -19.1%, France -20.3%, Italy -23.1% (the contraction is strong, but the tenth place is maintained).
Italy remains in decline
During the month there was another substantial drop for watches in the basic price range (under 200 francs), while there were increases for the medium (200-500 francs) and medium-high price ranges (500- francs). 3,000 francs); substantial stability for the high-end segment (above 3,000 francs). Looking at the first two months of 2021 as a whole, this trend is recorded for the top ten of the markets: China + 90.8% (the only positive sign among the large markets), USA -1.1%, Hong Kong -0.8 %, Japan -11.6%, Singapore -9.3%, United Kingdom -13.5%, United Arab Emirates -2.2%, Germany -16.45, France -21.3%, South Korea -29 %. Italy is in eleventh place in the two months, with a -23.6%.
The Swiss watch center represents over 50% of the sector’s worldwide turnover and exports over 90% of its production. The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (Fh), which provides export data, does not currently make any predictions on the possible size of the rebound in 2021.