Recent figures from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry shows watch exports to the US declined 5% in April after 8% growth in March, 15% in February and 26% in January. That being said, Swiss watch exports to the US grew 95% from CHF 2.4 billion in 2019 to CHF 3.9 billion in 2022. That is an enormous amount of growth for those three years, as for the entire preceding 19-year span from 2000 to 2019, Swiss watch exports to the US grew just 30%. As China reopens, the watch industry is anxiously waiting to see whether consumers from that country will pick up the growth baton. Chinese consumers often buy watches in Hong Kong, therefore we combined China and Hong Kong for completeness. After a difficult start of the year, with January being down 6%, export growth has accelerated from 14% in February to 33% in March and 52% in April.
Source: Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, May 2023.