Swiss watch exports figures signal falling luxury spending

A new sign that luxury spending is on the wane has come with the release of latest industry figures from Swiss watch firms.

Overall exports for the sector were found to have registered a year-on-year decline of 26.3 per cent in April.

This equates to 500,000 fewer watches, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FHS) - which includes luxury brands such as Rolex and Omega - said.

The sharpening downturn has also wiped 24.3 per cent off the value of exports over the first four months of the year - as high-end consumers scale back their spending as they face the worst recession in decades.

News of the declining watch business follows a report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research released earlier this week - which showed that the number of UK millionaires had halved over the past year.

’Steel and gold wristwatches saw their value fall by the average rate for the sector,’ the FHS added.

’Bimetallic timepieces again recorded a very steep decline.’ADNFCR-2318-ID-19193040-ADNFCR