Swiss Wristwatch Exports Enjoy Another Record Year in 2023
The year 2023 was another year to remember for the watch industry with a new record in export value
As every year, the Federation of the Swiss watch industry's report has come out regarding the 2023 export data of watches from Switzerland to the world. This is crucial information to understand how this industry is performing. Since the vast majority of brands are based right in Switzerland, this kind of data is the perfect representation of the health of the watch industry.
Exports hit a new record, growing 7.6% over 2022, reaching a combined total of CHF 26.7 billion. The first six months were the best with an increase of even 11.8%, offset by the second half of the year there was only a 3.6% stop.
In past years, a stagnation in the number of watches produced had been established, while the value of exports was growing. This meant that the industry was moving more and more toward a luxury target, while the price ranges below were not experiencing very good times. However, already last year saw a recovery in the number of exporting watches with even better data in 2023, where the number of exported wristwatches grew by 7.2% compared to 2022, reaching 16,9 million pieces. This means 1,1 million more watches were exported abroad in 2023.
Analyzing the trend by price range and type, we find a very strong dichotomy. Watches with an export price of 200 francs accounted for 83% of the increase in the total number of items. In contrast, watches with a price above CHF 3,000 generated 92% of the growth. Between the two, the CHF 200 to CHF 3,000 segment varied only slightly from 2022, up +0.9% in value and +1.9% in the number of items. In summary: the number of exports is largely driven by watches priced at CHF 200, while the value of exports is largely due to watches priced above CHF 3,000.
For this reason it is consistent that steel watches, which account for more than half of the items, stagnated in 2023, both in volume (+0.4%) and value (+1.4%). Export sales were mainly driven by watches made of precious metals (+9.2%) and bimetallic watches (+11.2%). The luxury segnment once again proved to be increasingly decisive.
Moving on to analyze in which geographical areas these watches are directed, we find that America and Europe stand at relatively similar growth percentages +6.7% vs. +6.8%. However, while North and South America account for 19% of total exports, the European market covers 30%.
Analyzing the various nations of the old continent we find fairly uniform performance with +7.6% for the United Kingdom, +5.1% for Germany, +8.1% for France, +9.3% for Italy and +5.7% for Spain.
Asia's share, on the other hand, is 49%, equal to America and Europe added together, and has grown the most this year +8.2%. In particular, China (+7.6%) grew at the same rate as the global average after market disruptions in 2022, but has not yet returned to pre-crisis levels (-6.9% from 2021). Hong Kong (+23.4%) experienced a strong recovery after the lifting of health restrictions, which lasted three years and caused the market to plummet to a historically low level. Japan (+7.7%) maintained steady growth, while Singapore (+2.5%) remained below average due to an unfavorable base effect. In the Middle East (+6.0%), the United Arab Emirates (+12.2%) outperformed, while Saudi Arabia (+2.6%) experienced more moderate growth.
After excellent years of growth, 2023 was another spectacular year for the industry, with a new export record that will translate into new investment and new research and, of course, more and more interesting watches that the maisons will offer us. For some time now, against the expectations of so many people who thought this industry was obsolete, this industry has been experiencing a golden age that we enthusiasts hope will never end.
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