Xifres de comerç exterior d'Itàlia

Foreign Trade in Figures

Italy has an export-oriented economy and is the 8th largest exporter and 12th largest importer worldwide, with trade making up 75% of its GDP (World Bank, latest data available). According to the latest figures by ISTAT, 15.7% of the exports from Italian manufacturing companies comes from small enterprises (with 0-19 employees), and 30.3% comes from medium-sized enterprises (50-249 employees). About half (49.6%,) comes from large enterprises (more than 250 employees). Considering operators based on export markets, 46.4% export goods to a single country, while 17.5% operate in more than 10 markets. The country’s main exports include medicaments, petroleum oils, cars and vehicle parts. Italy is also the second-largest wine exporter in the world. The country is dependent on imports for its energy needs, hence petroleum and gas products are among the main items in Italy’s import bills, together with motor vehicles, medicaments, and electric energy (data Comtrade 2022). In 2022, Italy's market share of global merchandise exports experienced a slight decline, dropping from 2.79% in 2021 to 2.65% (ISTAT).

Italy’s main trading partners are Germany (12.4%), the U.S. (10.4%), France (10.1%), Spain (5.2%), and Switzerland (5%), whereas imports come chiefly from Germany (13.6%),  China (8.8%), France (7.3%), the Netherlands (5.6%) and Spain (4.7% - data Comtrade).

Since the sovereign debt crisis in 2010 and after several years of registering a trade deficit, Italy has changed direction and has recorded positive trade balances in recent years. Nevertheless, in 2022 the external trade balance turned negative again, by an estimated 1.5% of GDP as per the World Bank’s data. According to WTO data, in 2022 the country exported goods worth USD 657 billion (+6.7%% year-on-year), while imports increased at a faster pace (+21.4%), totalling USD 689.2 billion, also due to the rise in energy bills. In the same year, Italy exported services for a total value of USD 124 billion, while its imports amounted to USD 134.1 billion (+20% and +14.5% year-on-year, respectively). Looking at the first semester of 2023, data from ISTAT show that the trade balance was positive by EUR 18.3 billion (compared to a deficit of EUR 15.0 billion in the same period one year earlier).