Swiss watch exports rise significantly in June – China continues to lose ground

Swiss watch exports rose by nearly 11.2 percent in June compared with the same month a year earlier, reaching just under 2.4 billion CHF.

A Strong June Stabilizes the First Half of the Year

Thanks to this positive momentum, the cumulative total of Swiss watch exports for the first six months of the year remained virtually unchanged from the previous year at CHF 12.8 billion. Compared with the same period in 2025, this represents a decline of just 0.7 percent.

Bimetal watches show the strongest growth

The value of all categories increased compared to June 2025, particularly for watches made of precious metals (+2.9%), steel (+5.0%), and bimetal models, whose export value soared by 42.1 percent.

This trend was also reflected in rising unit sales across nearly all material categories. Steel watches (+7.0%) and models in the “Other Materials” category (+21.9%) saw particularly strong growth. Overall, 123,000 more watches were exported in June than in the same month of the previous year.

With the exception of watches in the 500–3,000 CHF price segment, which saw a 4.7 percent decline, all other segments posted significant growth. The segment between 200 and 500 CHF performed particularly well, with an increase of 54.1 percent, while watches with an export price of over 3,000 CHF rose by 14.2 percent.

China Falls Out of the Top 6 Export Markets

The U.S. (+12.7%), Japan (+8.8%), and Hong Kong (+6.9%) posted strong growth in June, driven by a positive base effect. However, the results for France (+103.5%) continue to reflect actual demand in this market only to a limited extent. The United Kingdom (+12.2%), Singapore (+6.7%), and the United Arab Emirates (+20.4%) also performed well.

In contrast, there were significant declines in Germany (-10.6%), Italy (-21.4%), and China (-16.5%). China is therefore no longer among the six most important export markets for Swiss watches in June, although it still ranked sixth in the first half of this year. The United States ranked first in the first six months, followed by France and Japan.