Swiss watch exports have seen their biggest six month gain since 2012, with America and Asia leading the world.
In a statement today, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said shipments increased by 11% to CHF 10.5 billion, the first time they have exceeded CHF 10 billion for the first half of the year since 2015.
America has rebounded this year after a moribund 2016-17.
The country was responsible for exports of CHF 189.4 in June, a 6% increase over the same month in 2017.
For the first six months of 2018, exports the USA are 9% higher than the same period last year.
Several world markets reported very strong growth in the month of June. Hong Kong (+39.2%), Japan (+31.8%), France (+40.9%), South Korea (+46.2%) and Thailand (+51.6%) posted particularly strong increases. The United States (+5.7%) and China (+4.1%) reported more modest growth, while the United Kingdom (-11.8%), Italy (-21.3%) and Spain (-11.8%) saw their situation worsen. On average, Europe remained relatively stable (+1.4%).
