Against the background of the global Covid-19 pandemic and the near total standstill in global and local trade, the Swiss watch industry saw its exports plummet by a massive 81.3% in April 2020, according to data released by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH).

With production, distribution and sales all at a standstill, the collapse was not unexpected, with total exports reaching just 328.8 million franc as against the 1.5 to 1.8 billion levels of earlier months.

FH said that watches across all groups of materials fell by 75% to 90%, in both value and volume terms. Similarly, performance across all price segments, from highest to lowest, registered huge declines in both value and volume terms, it added. On both parameters the average decline was 82.1%, the figures revealed.

The top six markets in terms of overall share all reported declines with China being the only country to comparatively buck the trend in April. Exports there fell by just 16.1% in April following an increase in March, illustrating the recovery in the Chinese market. In contrast, Hong Kong, USA, Japan and Germany all saw sharp declines of over 80%, with South Korea, which together with the others made up the top six, dipping by 68.8%. As a result, China accounted for a third of Swiss watch exports last month, the association reported.