Story Highlight
– Swiss watch exports require context for accurate metrics.
– U.S. sales lag behind warehouse exports substantially.
– Tariff fluctuations caused significant export disruptions in 2025.
– April 2026 sees 16.6% drop in exports year-on-year.
– Strong sales of high-end watches sustain market against decline.
Full Story
Swiss watch export statistics necessitate a nuanced understanding rather than serving as a straightforward reflection of market dynamics.
It’s essential to distinguish between deliveries to brand warehouses and actual retail sales. Often, there can be a significant delay between watches entering a country and their eventual sale to consumers. This lag varies; for some brands with direct-to-consumer sales, the gap may be mere days, while it can stretch to months or even years for others.
Recent Swiss watch export data has prompted increased scrutiny, especially in light of the fluctuations caused by former President Trump’s tariffs implemented from April 2025 onwards. Following each tariff increase throughout 2025, manufacturers hurriedly imported watches into the United States, only to retract shipments when the elevated tariffs were in effect.
While the tariff situation seems to have stabilised, the ramifications from the previous year’s unpredictable landscape continue to linger.
In April 2026, Swiss watch exports experienced a significant decline, with values plummeting by 16.6% compared to the same month in 2025, largely driven by a staggering 56.4% drop in sales to the United States. However, this decline must be contextualised by the inflated export numbers from April 2025.
When viewed against two years ago, April 2026’s figures reflect an increase of nearly 9%, providing a clearer picture of growth in the US market. Over the initial four months of 2026, exports to America were down 23% year-on-year but showed more than a 10% increase compared to two years prior.
Additionally, a notable rise in Swiss watch sales to France has led to the country surpassing Japan as the second-largest market for Swiss timepieces by value for the first four months of 2026. This increase is influenced by France’s role as a transit hub for Swiss watches bound for other nations, aided by more competitive logistics costs and favourable tax regulations.
Overall, the value of Swiss exports has dropped by 3.9% since the beginning of the year, perpetuating a decline that commenced in 2024. Reports indicate a long-standing reduction in the volume of watches produced and sold by Swiss brands, with higher average prices mitigating a steeper contraction of the industry.
However, this trend appears to be coming under scrutiny. In April, sales of watches priced above CHF 3,000 saw a value decrease of 19% and volume decline of 21%. This price segment represents around 80% of total exports, with its value having nearly doubled from CHF 11 billion to CHF 20 billion between 2020 and 2024, while volume growth remained more subdued, rising from 1.3 million to 2 million.
2025 marked a shift in this trajectory, as volumes dipped by 5% to 1.9 million, and value also fell to CHF 19.5 billion from CHF 20 billion.
It would benefit the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry to offer more specific data concerning the premium segment, as current insights show that robust sales of watches priced over CHF 50,000 are propping up the market. Meanwhile, the lower price tiers are seeing sharp declines, except for the likes of Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and Patek Philippe.
The continued strength of the American market is vital for Swiss watchmakers. In the current year, the United States has imported watches valued at CHF 1.53 billion—nearly three times that of Japan’s CHF 583 million (which is down 3.8% year-to-date) and the UK’s CHF 534 million (down 0.6%).
There are signs of recovery in Hong Kong and China, with export growth of 2.5% and 3.5%, respectively, noted in the first four months of 2026. Moreover, Mexico and India have experienced the most significant growth at 27% and 39%, although combined, they still represent only CHF 240 million in exports.
