MILANO – Recovery of the industry in March and throughout the first quarter. According to Istat data, in March the turnover of Italian factories, net of seasonal factors, marked an economic increase of 1.6%, the result of growth both on the domestic market (+ 2%) and on the foreign one. (+ 0.6%). Correcting the data for the different working calendar, compared to March 2020 the turnover jumped by 38.1%: a boom evidently ‘drugged’ by the comparison with the first month of lockdown, last year.
In the comment to the data, Istat notes that in the “first quarter, industry turnover, net of seasonality, shows a significant increase compared to the previous quarter. On a monthly basis, the fourth consecutive increase is recorded. In the trend comparison, the results very positive results come from the exceptionally low level recorded in March of last year, in full health emergency. Even net of the price component, the manufacturing sector shows economic growth both on a monthly and quarterly basis “.
However, there are positive signs. If we take the general index of industry turnover, in its seasonally adjusted data, in March 2021 it reaches 109.8 points and therefore exceeds the 108.2 points of March 2019, the same month in the pre-Covid era. Massimiliano Dona of the National Consumers Union sees a “glimmer of light”: “The turnover, in fact, not only marks the fourth consecutive economic recovery, but if we compare today’s data with that of February 2020, the last pre-lockdown month , according to our study, internal turnover is 1.9% higher, even + 4%, and is also higher in comparison with the rebound of August 2020, with + 3.1% “, says Dona. “The only drawback is that it is still slightly lower than in January 2020, the last pre-pandemic month, even if the gap is just 0.2%. In short, in March 2021 we can say that we have returned to pre-crisis levels” concludes the president Unc.
Data that are paired with those of Terna, this time relating to the month of April, on the recovery of electricity and industrial consumption: the company that manages the national transmission grid has recorded a demand for electricity in Italy equal to 24.3 billion kWh, a significant increase (+ 21.7%) compared to April 2020, strongly influenced by the drop in demand due to the initiatives implemented to contain the covid-19 pandemic, and growing (+0.4 %) even compared to April 2019. Renewable sources covered 37% of consumption.
Returning to Istat and finally looking at the trend changes in the manufacturing sector, only for the pharmaceutical industry there is a negative change on an annual basis (-6.9%). The sectors with the greatest annual growth are those of means of transport (+ 128.4%) and metallurgy (+ 58.0%).
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