Swiss watch exports down 2.8% in 2024

The watch industry had to contend with a weakening of its exports last year, which reached a volume of CHF25.9 billion ($28.5 billion). Annual volumes fell by 9.4% to 15.3 million pieces, a decline of 1.6 million units, according to statistics published Thursday by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH). Steel watches (-7.0%) and other materials (-12.2%) dragged down exports. At the end of the year, deliveries abroad fell sharply. In December, they fell by 5.4% to CHF1.96 billion. In terms of volume and value, the overall trend was negative. Steel watches, the main category in terms of number of pieces exported, increased by 1.2% to 685,500 units, while precious metals stagnated (+0.2%). Volumes of bimetallic timepieces (-16.0%) and the "other metals" segment (-10.9%) plunged. The "other materials" category declined by 8.5% to 394,300 units. The number of total pieces fell by 5.0% to 1.29 million. In terms of value, the decline was almost across the board for exports. The ...