Geneva - Swiss exports were up a nominal 3.3 per cent in February while imports showed a retreat of 0.9 per cent, government data released Thursday showed. In real terms, corrected for inflation, the exports were down 0.6 per cent.
Exports had a total monthly value of 14.9 billion francs (14.09 billion dollars), which was attributed by the Customs Office to strong sales in Asia and North America.
However, the
European Union - Switzerland's main trading partner - was showing stagnated demand.
Last month also marked the first time since October 2008 that export growth benefited a majority of key sectors, including the watch export
industry leading the pack.
Swiss watch exports increased 14.2 per cent in February, compared to the same month last year, according to parallel data from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.
Wristwatches costing less than 500 francs made up the great majority of the export figure, while mid level timepieces gained 45.9 per cent by value. The costliest pieces, running over 3,000 francs lagged, but the value gained 3.9 per cent.
The total value of exported Swiss timepieces rose to 1.2 billion francs.
Exports to the
United States were showing growth after over five quarters of negative figures. Other increases were noted throughout Asia and the oil-rich parts of the Middle East, but in Europe the expected stagnation in demand continued.
The Swiss current account surplus for the month was 1.29 billion francs, lower than analysts had expected.
Switzerland's worst
recession in a generation ended last summer and growth was returning, but the government and central bank have warned of a fragile recovery, and
interest rates have been kept at near-zero targets.
