By
AFP
Translated by
Benjamin Fitzgerald
Published
Aug 22, 2018
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Swiss watch exports remain strong in July

By
AFP
Translated by
Benjamin Fitzgerald
Published
Aug 22, 2018

The exportation of Swiss watches remained strong in July, with a 6.6% increase to 1.8 billion Swiss francs (1.6 billion euros), according to the Swiss watch federation on Tuesday, continuing the growth trend seen in the first-half of the year.


A Tag Heuer watch model - dr


"The cumulative result since the beginning of the year has continued to show strong growth (+10%)," noted the watch federation in a press release. The preceding month, exports grew 11.8% to 1.9 billion Swiss francs. 

After two difficult years in 2015 and 2016, Switch watch exports stabilised before progressively improving throughout 2017, to come back to growth in the first half of 2018. 

In July, the growth was carried by an increase in imports to Hong Kong, which accelerated 26.8%, "accounting for 37% of global growth," said the federation.

In Japan, the leading market for Swiss-made watches, imports grew 16.6%, "a sharp increase over the 10 months."

The UK also grew positively, up 7.6%.

However, the U.S. (-0.7%) and China, (0.4%), did not generate the same dynamic results and "reached a level comparable to that of July 2017."

Watch exports to Europe also dropped, down 1% in France, with Italy and Germany witnessing a 9.1% and 8.6% decline, respectively.

The sector has had setbacks in recent years, hampered by the introduction of anti-corruption measures in China, which weighed on the sales of luxury goods, and Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution in autumn 2014, which scared away Chinese tourists accustomed to buying luxury goods in the neighbouring island nation.

The sector was also affected by a wave of attacks in Europe, which disrupted tourist flows.

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