Exports of Swiss watches ended the semester on the rise, rising by 8.1% in June to 2.1 billion francs thanks to the recovery in Europe and strong demand in the United States as well as in the Gulf countries, according to statistics from the watchmaking federation.
During the month of June, they increased by 17.5% to the United States, by 28.7% to the United Kingdom and by 28% to France.
Swiss watch exports also rose 36.4% to the United Arab Emirates, 18% to Saudi Arabia and 22.2% to Qatar.
Towards China, their decline was limited to 6.4% over the past month after a fall of 57.8% in April and 65.2% in May.
"The Chinese market has benefited from the gradual easing of anti-Covid measures after two months of partial closure", notes the watchmaking federation in a press release, which also recalls that the basis of comparison is very high.
By June 2021, watch exports to China, a strategic market for luxury goods, had jumped 93.7%.
In 2020, China had been the only growing market for watch exports which had collapsed everywhere else with the shock of the pandemic.
The stand of the Swiss manufacturer Patek Philippe, at the Watches and Wonders show in Geneva on March 30, 2022 Fabrice COFFRINI AFP
After a fall of 21.8% in 2020, Swiss watch exports had rebounded by 31.2% in 2021, thanks to the recovery which had begun in the United States before spreading in particular to the Gulf countries.
More recently, the recovery has begun in Europe with the return of tourists who come there to shop for luxury goods.
But lockdowns in China, particularly Shanghai, have raised concerns for the industry.
Last week the watchmaker Swatch Group, owner of the Omega, Longines and Tissot brands mentioned a shortfall of 400 million francs in China during the first half.
However, the impact turned out to be less strong than feared.
The luxury giant Richemont saw its quarterly sales drop by 37% in China, but offset this decline with strong demand in the Americas and Europe.
© 2022 AFP