The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Swiss watch exports fell 2.8% in 2024, according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH), with the later annual release putting their value at CHF 26.0 billion. The unit decline was steeper: 9.4%, to 15.3 million watches. The headline figure of CHF 25.9 billion appears in FH’s December monthly release; its January annual release reports CHF 26.0 billion. Both releases give the annual decline as 2.8%.
How much did Swiss watch exports decline in 2024?
FH’s January 30, 2025 annual release reports total Swiss watch exports of CHF 26.0 billion, down 2.8% from 2023. It reports watch exports specifically at CHF 24.8 billion, also down 2.8%. The separate total and watch-only figure are the amounts FH publishes; they should not be treated as interchangeable.
FH’s December 2024 monthly release gave the year’s total as CHF 25.9 billion and also reported a 2.8% decline. That is the figure reflected in the headline wording, but the later annual release gives CHF 26.0 billion. The releases do not state why the totals differ by CHF 0.1 billion, so the discrepancy is best understood as a difference between published reports rather than assigned a cause.
Why did exports fall more by volume than by value?
FH says 15.3 million watches were exported in 2024, 1.6 million fewer than in 2023—a 9.4% drop in units. The value of watch exports fell 2.8%. This gap means the export figures declined much more sharply in quantity than in reported value; it does not, by itself, show what happened to the price of watches sold to consumers.
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The result also differed substantially by price segment. FH reports that export turnover for watches priced below CHF 3,000 fell 15.6%, while the segment above CHF 3,000 rose 1.0%. Watches above CHF 3,000 accounted for more than 80% of total export value.
Which watch types and materials were affected?
Material trends also diverged. Steel watches fell 9.8% by export value. Watches made of precious metals rose 2.2% in value, even though their exported unit volume fell 5.1%.
These figures reinforce the contrast between the mix of watches exported and the total number of units. They do not identify the performance of any individual brand or explain how much subcontractors contributed.
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Which markets drove the decline in Swiss watch exports?
Asia was the largest regional drag in FH’s account: exports there fell 7.6%. Europe was nearly flat, down 0.1%, while North and South America grew 5.4% and together represented one fifth of Swiss watch exports.
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| Market or region | Change in 2024 |
|---|---|
| Asia | −7.6% |
| China | −25.8% |
| Hong Kong | −18.7% |
| Europe | −0.1% |
| North and South America | +5.4%; one fifth of exports |
| United States | +5.0% |
| Japan | +7.8% |
The strong contractions in China and Hong Kong outweighed growth in the United States and Japan in the broader picture. FH describes reduced demand, heavily influenced by China and Hong Kong, as a major factor. It also points to increased competition in entry-level and mid-range watches and slower demand for luxury personal items, particularly among aspirational customers. Those are FH’s explanations for the industry pattern, not measures of consumer sales in each market.
Did Swiss watch sales fall by 3% in 2024?
The cited statistic is about exports, not retail sales to end consumers. FH explicitly says its figures refer to export data and not end-consumer sales. Export values therefore cannot establish how much consumers bought at retail, how retailers’ inventories changed, or how a particular brand performed.
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Nor do the consolidated export totals reveal the result for any one watch company. FH says its statistics only partially reflect differences among firms and do not directly measure subcontracting, which is primarily focused on the Swiss market.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What happened to Swiss watch exports after 2024?
FH’s January 29, 2026 release reports that Swiss watch exports fell another 1.7% in 2025, to CHF 25.6 billion—the second consecutive annual decline. FH attributed the 2025 environment to uncertainty, US trade policy, weakness in China and Hong Kong, and rising gold and Swiss franc prices. These are FH’s explanations for 2025, not evidence about what caused the 2024 result.
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FH notes that its published figures can be revised or adjusted and that its latest publications prevail. For the 2024 annual result, its January 30 annual release is the later source and gives the total as CHF 26.0 billion.
Quick Recap
Sources
- Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, “Swiss watch exports in 2024,” January 30, 2025.
- Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, “Swiss watchmaking in December 2024.”
- Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, “Swiss watch exports in 2025,” January 29, 2026.
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