Italy Trade Surplus Narrows to Lowest in 7 Months

2026-10-16 10:16 By Larissa Caser 1 min. read

Italy’s trade surplus narrowed to €1.77 billion in August 2026 from €1.88 billion a year earlier and well below market expectations of €7.5 billion.

This marked the lowest surplus since January.

Imports rose 9.7% year-on-year to €40.3 billion, driven by sharp rises in purchases of crude oil (44.3%), natural gas (49.2%), and coke and refined petroleum products (56.5%).

Import growth was higher from non-EU markets (17.3%), particularly India (116.5%), than from EU markets (3.2%), of which Belgium (19.2%) and Spain (13.8%) recorded the strongest increases.

Exports rose 9% to €42.1 billion, supported by higher exports of basic metals and fabricated metal products (26.5%), coke and refined petroleum products (55.4%) and motor vehicles (55.8%).

Export growth was also stronger in non-EU markets (16.7%), mainly Switzerland (57.1%) and China (32.7%), than EU markets (1.6%).

Trade with EU countries narrowed sharply, posting a deficit of €327 million compared with a €3 million deficit a year ago.



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Italy Trade Surplus Narrows to Lowest in 7 Months
Italy’s trade surplus narrowed to €1.77 billion in August 2026 from €1.88 billion a year earlier and well below market expectations of €7.5 billion. This marked the lowest surplus since January. Imports rose 9.7% year-on-year to €40.3 billion, driven by sharp rises in purchases of crude oil (44.3%), natural gas (49.2%), and coke and refined petroleum products (56.5%). Import growth was higher from non-EU markets (17.3%), particularly India (116.5%), than from EU markets (3.2%), of which Belgium (19.2%) and Spain (13.8%) recorded the strongest increases. Exports rose 9% to €42.1 billion, supported by higher exports of basic metals and fabricated metal products (26.5%), coke and refined petroleum products (55.4%) and motor vehicles (55.8%). Export growth was also stronger in non-EU markets (16.7%), mainly Switzerland (57.1%) and China (32.7%), than EU markets (1.6%). Trade with EU countries narrowed sharply, posting a deficit of €327 million compared with a €3 million deficit a year ago.
2026-10-16
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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% 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.
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