Swiss watch exports grew 22.4% in April to CHF1.4 billion, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry reported Tuesday. The cumulative value since the beginning of the year was CHF5.2 billion, up 15.5%. Wristwatch exports were valued at CHF1.3 billion in April, showing an increase of 21.5%.
Wristwatches costing less than CHF500 showed a uniform increase of just over 20% both in value terms and by number of pieces. The demand for wristwatch costing CHF500 to CHF3, 000 was less dynamic, posting an increase of 7% in value terms.
In April, Hong Kong firmly established itself as the leading Swiss market and China moved up to seventh place. The share of U.S. was 14.4% and that of Japan stood at 7.3%. Shipment to U.S. grew 4.6%, while exports to Japan fell 1.2%.
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May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.