After a very good 2002 year end, Swiss watch exports recorded a decline of 6.6% or 322.6 million francs, to 4.56 billion, in the first six months of 2003.

This expected downturn illustrates the effect of the war in Iraq, the SARS epidemic and the poor economic situation in Europe, factors that take several months to impact on export figures. Indeed, the above results showed a steeper decline in May and June.

In view of the world economic situation, a return to growth is not foreseeable in the immediate future. While Asia can hope to return quickly to a more favourable situation with the conclusion of the SARS episode, Europe will certainly have to be patient for longer before any improvement sets in. The watch industry could then follow the positive trend.

Products
Results in the first half-year of 2003 mainly reflect the development of exports of finished watches, which fell by 6.9% compared to the first half-year of 2002, posting a total of 4.12 billion francs. Meanwhile, the number of pieces showed an even more pronounced decline: at 11.14 million units, the downturn represents 13.3% (-1.7 million watches).

Only platinum timepieces did better during the period January-June 2002, however these do not feature significantly in the total.
All other materials registered a decline, both in terms of value and volumes. Steel watches saw their value fall by 6.2%, while 18-carat gold watches fell by 7.2%. These two important materials accounted for two thirds of the decline.

In terms of volume, the main materials also fared badly. Steel timepieces recorded a decline of more than 500,000 units (-9.6%), as did plastic watches (-15.2%). Aluminium also lost ground, to the tune of 350,000 units (-16.5%).

Other products exported by Swiss watchmakers also performed badly overall compared to the first half-year of 2002. While complete movements saw their value increase slightly (+0.8% to 67.1 million francs), cases, dials, hands and bracelets all registered varying two-figure declines. High volume products followed this trend and saw their value fall by 10.2%.

Markets
During the first half-year of 2003, the 15 main markets progressed as follows;

Despite a decline of 11.0% in June, Swiss watch exports to the United States increased in the first half-year of 2003. At 720.9 million francs, the rate of growth was 1.2%. Hong Kong and Japan however were unable to resist the downward trend and turned in results of -3.2% and -9.1% respectively.

In Europe, results for Italy and France worsened as a result of the gloomy economic situation prevailing in those countries. Germany, in the same position as its neighbours, lost sixth place to the United Kingdom, which registered an increase of 10.3%, thanks in particular to an excellent June performance.

Swiss watch exports to Thailand (eleventh largest market) rose by 3.8%, as did those to Taiwan, in 13th place. Meanwhile, China continued to climb up the ranking with an increase of 141.4% compared to the first half of 2002. Another remarkable result was claimed by Russia, with +33.9%.

On a final note it should be remembered that the statistics distributed by the FH are based on export figures, not sales to end consumers. There may be differences between these two types of results. Furthermore, the FH statistics are arrived at after consolidating the exports of all firms in the sector. They cannot therefore serve as the basis for assessing the performance of a particular firm or group, bearing in mind that business activity may differ from one firm to another.