The UAE maintained its position as the eighth biggest market in the world for luxury Swiss made watches in March, according to the latest industry data.
But figures released by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry showed the value of the market for imported watches declined from 63.3m Swiss francs ($69.4m) in February to 57.4 Swiss francs ($65.6m) in March.
However, the figure was still more than 10 percent higher than in March 2010, the Federation said.
The UAE was the ninth fastest growing market for Swiss watches in 2010, registering nearly 32 percent growth compared to 2009.
Saudi Arabia rose one place in the global rankings in March to 14th with the value of the luxury watch market standing at 26.4m Swiss francs, up nearly 15 percent on the same month last year.
Both Qatar and Oman, which were both in the world’s top 30 Swiss watch imports list in February, dropped out due to lower imports last month, the Federation figures showed.
Kuwait was ranked 23rd, with the value of its luxury watch market soaring from 5.7m Swiss francs in February to 8.5m last month, more than 90 percent higher than in March 2010.
The largest market for Swiss watches in March was Hong Kong which was worth 287m Swiss francs, followed by China and the USA.
Overall, the Middle East region imported nearly 210,000 Swiss watches last month, an 11 percent increase on the same period in 2010.
Earlier this month, LVMH, the world’s biggest luxury group which owns watch brands including Tag Heuer, Hublot and Dior, posted a 17 percent rise in first-quarter sales.
The company reported sales of $7.53 billion in the three months to March 31.
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