Italy Posts Widest Trade Surplus in 6 Years

2026-09-15 08:26 By Luisa Carvalho 1 min. read

Italy's trade surplus widened to €8.24 billion in July 2026, the largest since July 2020, from €7.83 billion in July 2025 and well above market forecasts of €4.77 billion.Exports rose 4.7% yoy to a record €64.55 billion, driven by basic metals and fabricated metal products (+13.8%), coke and refined petroleum products (+27.3%), and sporting goods, games, musical instruments and precious metals (+15.9%).

Overseas sales grew more strongly for non-EU markets (+6.6%), particularly Switzerland (+39.6%), OPEC countries (+26.3%) and China (+27.6%), while those to the US fell 1.1%.

EU exports rose 2.8%, led by the Netherlands (+5%) and France (+4.2%).

Meanwhile, imports rose 4.6% to €56.31 billion, driven by mining and quarrying products (+28.7%), coke and refined petroleum products (+27%), and basic metals and fabricated metal products (+9.9%).

EU imports advanced 4.9%, led by Spain (+15.6%), the Netherlands (+4.4%) and France (+3.9%), while Germany edged down 0.1%.

Non-EU imports rose 4.2%.



News Stream
Italy Posts Widest Trade Surplus in 6 Years
Italy's trade surplus widened to €8.24 billion in July 2026, the largest since July 2020, from €7.83 billion in July 2025 and well above market forecasts of €4.77 billion.Exports rose 4.7% yoy to a record €64.55 billion, driven by basic metals and fabricated metal products (+13.8%), coke and refined petroleum products (+27.3%), and sporting goods, games, musical instruments and precious metals (+15.9%). Overseas sales grew more strongly for non-EU markets (+6.6%), particularly Switzerland (+39.6%), OPEC countries (+26.3%) and China (+27.6%), while those to the US fell 1.1%. EU exports rose 2.8%, led by the Netherlands (+5%) and France (+4.2%). Meanwhile, imports rose 4.6% to €56.31 billion, driven by mining and quarrying products (+28.7%), coke and refined petroleum products (+27%), and basic metals and fabricated metal products (+9.9%). EU imports advanced 4.9%, led by Spain (+15.6%), the Netherlands (+4.4%) and France (+3.9%), while Germany edged down 0.1%. Non-EU imports rose 4.2%.
2026-09-15
Italy Trade Surplus Narrows in June
Italy's trade surplus narrowed to €4.23 billion in June 2026 from €5.38 billion in June 2025, missing market expectations of €4.74 billion. Imports surged 13.2% year-on-year to €55.5 billion, led by manufacturing (12.1%), with sharp gains in basic metals and fabricated products excluding machinery (+32.2%), transport equipment (10.1%), and chemicals (10.5%). Purchases rose most for non-EU countries (18.7%), while EU countries rose 9.1%, led by Germany (14.1%). Meanwhile, exports rose 9.8% to €59.8 billion, with growth across most sectors, led by coke and refined petroleum products (45.1%), base metals and fabricated metal products (25.8%), motor vehicles (17.0%) and transport equipment excluding motor vehicles (13.3%). Shipments rose most to Germany (22.9%), followed by the Netherlands (22.4%) and France (6.8%), while shipments to the UK fell 8.5%. For the first half of 2026, the trade surplus rose to €24.5 billion from €22.8 billion a year earlier.
2026-08-11
Italy Trade Surplus Narrows in May
Italy's trade surplus narrowed to €4.8 billion in May 2026 from €6.1 billion a year earlier, though it exceeded market expectations of a €4.5 billion surplus. Exports rose 4.1% year-on-year to €57.4 billion, driven by base metals and metal products, excluding machinery and equipment (26.2%), coke and refined petroleum products (62.0%), transportation equipment, excluding motor vehicles (20.6%), and motor vehicles (13.9%). In contrast, exports of pharmaceutical, chemical-medicinal, and botanical products fell 9.7%. Switzerland remained the largest destination (57.9%), followed by China (24.2%) and the Netherlands (8.6%). Meanwhile, imports increased at a faste pace of 7.3% to €51.6 billion, mainly due to a surge in purchases of crude oil and refined petroleum products, while declines in other goods limited overall growth. Purchases from non-EU markets far outpaced those from EU markets, at 15.5% and 1.3%, respectively.
2026-07-16