We are at 510 billion. In the last 12 months, Italian exports beat every previous record and the November data confirm the strength of the trend. Istat estimates show a cyclical growth for both trade flows with foreign countries, more intense for exports (+ 2.7%) than for imports (+ 1.7%).
The monthly increase in exports is due to the increase in sales to both EU (+ 2.4%) and non-EU (+2.9%) areas. In the quarter September-November 2021, compared to the previous , exports grew by 1.9%, imports by 4.5%.
On an annual basis, the increase is 16.8%; growth is more sustained in the EU area (+ 19.9%) than in non-EU markets (+ 13.4%). Imports records a more marked trend increase (+ 27.9%), which involves both the EU area (+ 21.6%) and, to a much greater extent, the non-EU area (+ 37.8% ).
The sectors that contribute most to the trend increase in exports include: refined petroleum products (+ 197.9%), base metals and metal products, excluding machines and plants (+ 19.8%), substances and products chemicals (+ 24.1%), food, beverages and tobacco (+ 15.8%), machinery and appliances nec (+ 6.9%) and clothing items, including leather and fur (+26.5 %).
Sales of motor vehicles decreased (-13.4%) and, to a slight extent, of computers, electronic and optical devices (-0.1%). On an annual basis, the countries that provide the greatest contributions to the increase in exports national are Germany (with an increase of 17.3%), United States (+ 24.4%), Netherlands (+ 49.2%), Spain (+ 21.8%), France (+ 10.0%) ) and Belgium (+ 30.7%). Sales to Switzerland (-5.7%), the United Kingdom (-2.7%), China (-3.6%) and ASEAN countries (-6.8%) are down.