In May 2014 Swiss watch exports increased by 1.2% on a year-on-year basis, to $ 2.1 billion (1.87 billion Swiss francs), according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. The growth of exports provided sales of watches made of precious metals, Rapaport reports.
The export of watches grew by 2% to $ 1.99 billion (1.77 billion Swiss francs) for the month, while exports of goods fell by 5% to 2.1 million pieces. The export value of other watch products declined by 10% to $ 44 million (39.1 million Swiss francs).
The Federation explained that exports of Swiss watch products to Hong Kong slightly decreased by 0.8% to $ 383.5 million (341.1 million Swiss francs) in May, while exports to the US grew by 3% to $ 228 million (203 million Swiss francs) .
The sharpest growth was demonstrated by exports to Japan, up 10% on a year-on-year basis to $ 122.9 million (109.3 million Swiss francs). The export of watches to Italy rose by 0.9% to $ 140 million (124.5 million Swiss francs), while exports to France grew by 3% to $ 124.5 million (110.7 million Swiss francs). The export of Swiss watches to China slightly decreased by 1% to $ 131.2 million (116.7 million Swiss francs).
As a result of the first five months of 2014, the total Swiss watch exports increased by 3.3% on a year-on-year basis and amounted to $ 9.739 billion (8.663 billion Swiss francs), while the number of watches sold was 10.7 million units.