Swiss watches: Half as many, five times the price

In 2000, Switzerland shipped almost 29.7 million wristwatches abroad. In 2025, the figure was 14.6 million. The export value of these watches rose from 9.3 to 24.4 billion francs over the same period.

What the export statistics measure

The figures come from Switzerland’s Federal Office for Customs and Border Security. The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH publishes them every month. Its series go back to 2000, most recently with data for 2026. Two limitations should precede any analysis. First, the statistics show exports, meaning shipments to retailers, subsidiaries and intermediate warehouses abroad. They do not show what customers pay in shops. The federation itself points out that exports and sales to end customers can differ. Second, all values are nominal and given in Swiss francs, with no adjustment for inflation since 2000.

For the following analysis, we took the FH series on wristwatches by price category and calculated the average value per watch ourselves for three selected years: export value divided by number of watches.

Half the watches, five times the value per piece

Source: FH, exports by price category (2026 data); averages calculated by us.

The number of watches has halved since 2000, while export value has more than doubled. The average value per watch is therefore 5.3 times its 2000 level.

The shift came after 2015. Between 2000 and 2015, the number stayed almost the same while export value doubled. Afterwards, the lowest of the four price categories saw the sharpest decline; it covers watches with an export price below 200 francs.

There, the number fell from 18.6 million in 2015 to 8.3 million in 2025. The statistics do not answer what happened to these watches.

The FH report “Weltweite Uhrenindustrie im 2025” does, however, show the scale of the competition: China exported around 589.5 million wristwatches in 2025, about forty times as many as Switzerland.

A second breakdown in the FH table by watch type separates mechanical and electronic watches. In 2025, mechanical watches accounted for just over a third of exported wristwatches but 86 per cent of their value. Electronic models still make up the majority by number, but contribute only around 14 per cent of export value.

The number of watches has halved since 2000, while export value has more than doubled.

Above 3,000 francs: four out of five francs

The FH classifies each watch by its export price; the highest category covers watches above 3,000 francs. An export price of 3,000 francs usually translates into a substantially higher shop price once retail margins, taxes and, where applicable, customs duties are added.

Source: FH, exports by price category (2026 data); shares and averages calculated by us.

In 2025, then, four out of every five export francs came from the highest category, although it accounted for only one in eight watches shipped. Together, these 1.87 million watches generated 19.5 billion francs.

Even within the category, the average has risen by just over 60 per cent since 2000. The FH annual report names two cost drivers for 2025: the price of gold and the franc’s exchange rate, both of which had reached record levels. According to the federation, demand for the highest price segments nevertheless remained strong, while most other categories declined.

Germany: ninth place and a shrinking share

For Germany, we compared the FH series of exports by market with total exports. This includes all watch products, including movements and parts.

Source: FH, exports by market (2026 data); shares calculated by us.

In 2023, exports to Germany were well above their 2000 value, with intervening declines such as in 2020. From 2023 to 2025, they fell by just over ten per cent. At the 2025 annual average euro reference exchange rate of the European Central Bank , that year’s 1,217 million francs equate to around 1.3 billion euros.

In the ranking for 2026 through the end of September , Germany stands ninth with 891.1 million francs. That is 3.8 per cent less than in the same period a year earlier and ten per cent less than in the same period in 2024. Ahead of Germany are the US, France, Japan, Great Britain, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

Shipments to France rose by 79.9 per cent in 2026 through the end of September. In its September report , the FH urges caution: the jumps could reflect shifts in trade flows between EU markets, at the expense of other countries in the region. The federation does not say whether Germany is also affected. It is possible, but the public figures cannot establish it.

What the figures mean for your watch purchase

The statistics do not give a shop price. They show where the industry is heading. On average, a Swiss watch was a different product in 2025 than in 2000. The industry ships fewer watches and earns most of its export value in the highest price category.

Germany is itself a major watch exporter. The FH report ranks the country sixth among exporters worldwide in 2025, with 2.3 billion francs. As a market for Swiss watches, it has lost weight: its share of Swiss watch exports has shrunk by nearly a third since 2000.

Our verdict: if you are looking for a Swiss watch under 1,000 euros, you can still find one. However, the number exported in the two lowest price categories up to 500 francs has more than halved since 2015.

If you spend more, you are buying in the segment that accounted for four out of five export francs in 2025. Before buying, compare a watch’s shop price with its price in a neighbouring country. The FH itself considers it possible that trade flows within the EU are currently shifting.