Boosted by a very strong rise (26%) in exports to Hong Kong, the Swiss watch export industry registered a year-on-year increase of 5.3% during May 2018, to reach 1.8 billion francs, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH said in a statement released last week.

However, it added that in cumulative terms, growth has slackened slightly since the beginning of the year (+9.9%), while remaining at a very high level.

With the large increase in demand during the month despite a distinctly unfavourable base effect, Hong Kong alone accounted for just under two-thirds of global growth. The United States (+9.8%) maintained their good momentum of recent months, so confirming their return to positive figures in a medium-term perspective. Growth in China (+5.8%) slackened slightly, while remaining at a high level in terms of the y-o-y change. The timid recovery posted in Italy up to now came to an abrupt end in May with a sharp downturn (-21.2%).

Steel (7.8%) and bimetal (9.3%) watches made the biggest contribution to the growth in value, while precious metal products (1.8%) reported only a small rise. As had been the case in April, volumes rose strongly (+8.9%), almost all the advance being attributable to steel watches (+15.9%).

The Federation also said that all the price segments benefited from this growth, with special emphasis on the 500-3,000 francs (export price range) which grew 16.7% in volume terms and 9.3% in value terms. Watches priced at under 200 francs also made considerable gains for the second month in a row, growing by 9.5% in volume terms and 8.1% in value terms, it was reported.