Switzerland Watch Exports Bounce Back in August

The Swiss watch industry saw a rebound in exports for August, but not all regions were as fortunate. Shipments from Switzerland rose 9.1 percent to 1.7 billion Swiss francs that month, according to data released by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.

Wristwatch volumes increased by 8.6 percent in value and 9.5 percent in units, with other products making up the rest of exports. Year-to-date, exports are up 1.7 percent, totaling over 17 billion Swiss francs.

The organization noted that this pushed the 12-month rolling average into positive territory for the first time in two years. However, analysts were cautious, as Nikolaos Lafioniatis of RBC pointed out 'mixed trends against easy comparatives' and said August's figures imply 'sequential deceleration on 2-year stack basis against easier comparatives.'

Despite growth in most markets, including China and Hong Kong, the top export destination, the U.S. saw a decline of 19.4 percent. The UK experienced significant growth, increasing by 46.1 percent.

The Middle East also weighed on August's figures, despite the UAE seeing a 6.1 percent increase in exports. According to Citi's Thomas Chauvet, the region representing around 10 percent of total exports saw a 6 percent contraction overall.