China 'ahead of US in demand for luxury watches'

First published: 07-03-2012

China has overtaken the US in its demand for luxury watches, a new report has shown.

The World Watch Report looks at the searches made by over one billion internet users around the world and found people in China have the greatest appetite for these products.

In the Far East as a whole there appears to be a rise in demand for luxury timepieces, as Japan also recorded a rise in searches.

However, an opposite trend appears to be taking place in Europe, as both Germany and Italy saw a decline in how many people were looking up these products over the web.

"For the first time since the study was launched in 2004, China surpassed the USA as the country exhibiting the highest demand for luxury watches, representing 23 per cent of all watch-related searches," research firm Digital Luxury Group said in the report.

The number of people travelling from China to Europe is helping to boost these sales of watches, a separate study from research company Global Blue has reported.