Press release
for immediate publication

Bienne, January 30th 2024

Swiss watch exports in 2023
Record value and a sharp rise in volumes
Swiss watchmaking continued to grow sharply in 2023, following strong performance the previous year.
Watch exports achieved record value, while the corresponding number of watches also increased
significantly.
Swiss watch exports for the year as a whole exceeded their 2022 result by 7.6%, increasing to a total valueof 26.7 billion francs. Growth in the first half of the year was 11.8% before slowing, as expected, to 3.6% inthe second six months.
Operating mainly in the upmarket sector, Swiss watchmaking benefited from steady demand in the luxury
goods market. It also achieved excellent performance in the entry-level segment, illustrating the still
significant interest in Swiss-made products.
This remarkable momentum was supported by an increase in the number of employees in the sector, whichgrew by 7.7% to over 65,000 people in Switzerland last year, as announced by the Employers’ Federation of
the Swiss watchmaking industry.
2024 looks calmer for both exports and the number of people employed in the sector, with results expected
to remain high or only increase slightly. Nonetheless, the disparities between different players will remain
and performances will therefore vary. Subcontractors and suppliers, particularly, are expecting a less positive
outlook this year. Although the sluggish economic situation has only appeared to have a partial impact on
the luxury goods market so far, it is nonetheless affecting consumer confidence at all levels and several
brands have already indicated that they intend to be cautious in their forecasts. In addition, the particularlyhigh level of the franc will affect results, particularly in the entry-level and mid-range segments.
Products
The number of wristwatches exported grew by 7.2% compared with 2022, to 16.9 million items. This meansthat an additional 1.1 million watches were shipped abroad in 2023, confirming the recovery alreadyobserved a year before. As a result, the export value of watches increased by 7.7%, to 25.5 billion francs.
Mechanical watches (+7.0% by value) generated almost 80% of the growth in export turnover. At the sametime, quartz watches (+12.6%) accounted for three quarters of the increase in volumes, which rose by 8.8%.
The same polarisation can also be seen in the main price ranges. With an increase of 940,000 units (+11.2%),
watches with an export price of 200 francs represented 83% of the increase in the total number of items. At
the other end of the price scale, watches priced at over 3,000 francs (+9.4% by value) generated 92% of thegrowth. Between the two, the 200-3,000 francs segment varied only slightly compared with 2022, with anincrease of +0.9% by value and +1.9% number of items.
All the figures released by FH refer to exports data and not to sales to end-consumers. Differences between these two types of data may therefore exist. These data must
be regarded as consolidated figures gathering export results from all Swiss watch companies. They obviously cannot reflect the individual results of one particular company
or group of companies, knowing that business activity may greatly vary from one to the other.

Steel watches, representing more than one item in two, stagnated in 2023, by both volume (+0.4%) and value(+1.4%). Export turnover was mainly driven by watches made from precious metals (+9.2%) and bimetallic
watches (+11.2%).
Markets
North and South America (+6.7%), driven mainly by the United States, absorbed 19% of Swiss watch exports
in 2023. Europe (+6.8%) followed the same trend, representing a 30% share. Asia (+8.2%) accounted foralmost half (49%) of Swiss watch exports.
Swiss watch exports per market in 2023
Markets

Mil of CHF

Variation

15. Saudi Arabia

4,161.8
2,762.5
2,356.3
1,822.9
1,743.8
1,655.2
1,357.7
1,279.9
1,263.9
1,066.9
711.6
455.0
411.5
395.9
354.2

+7.0%
+7.6%
+23.4%
+7.7%
+7.6%
+2.5%
+5.1%
+8.1%
+12.2%
+9.3%
-7.3%
+5.7%
+14.4%
+7.5%
+2.6%

World

26,741.5+7.6%

1. USA
2. China
3. Hong Kong
4. Japan
5. United Kingdom
6. Singapore
7. Germany
8. France
9. UAE
10. Italy
11. South Korea
12. Spain
13. Australia
14. Taiwan

Part

15.6%
10.3%
8.8%
6.8%
6.5%
6.2%
5.1%
4.8%
4.7%
4.0%
2.7%
1.7%
1.5%
1.5%
1.3%Having grown by 27.1% on average in 2021 and 2022, watch exports to the United States (+7.0%) remained
very dynamic last year.
In Asia, China (+7.6%) posted growth identical to the global average after the market disruptions in 2022, but
has still not returned to its pre-crisis level (-6.9% compared with 2021). Hong Kong (+23.4%) achieved a strong
recovery following the lifting of health restrictions, which lasted three years and caused the market to fall toa historically low level. Japan (+7.7%) performed in line with the average, while Singapore (+2.5%) remained
below it because of an unfavourable base effect. In the Middle East (+6.0%), the United Arab Emirates(+12.2%) outperformed, while Saudi Arabia (+2.6%) saw more moderate growth. The only shadow on thehorizon, South Korea (-7.3%) suffered the full effect of competition from the duty-free market on the Chinese
island of Hainan.
Performance in the main European markets was more uniform, at +7.6% for the United Kingdom, +5.1% forGermany, +8.1% for France, +9.3% for Italy and +5.7% for Spain.

Contact:
Yves Bugmann, President
yves.bugmann@fhs.swiss, 032 328 08 28

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