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 63% of its GDP (World Bank, latest data available). According to the latest figures by ISTAT for 2021, Italy's market share of world exports of goods stood at 2.71%. Large exporting companies (1,961 units with at least 250 employees) accounted for 48.8% of national exports, medium-sized companies (50-249 employees) for 31.3% and small companies (less than 50 employees) for 19.9%. The country’s main exports include medicaments, cars and vehicle parts, refined petroleum, trunks, suitcases, and vanity cases. 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 and medicaments (data Comtrade 2021).

Italy’s main trading partners are Germany (13.1%), France (10.3%), the U.S. (9.5%), Switzerland (5.4%), and Spain (5%), whereas imports come chiefly from Germany (16.1%), France (8.3%), China (8.5%), the Netherlands (5.9%) and Spain (5.1% - data Comtrade). Overall, the EU accounted for 52% of total exports.

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. According to WTO data, in 2021 the country exported goods worth USD 610.2 billion (+23%% year-on-year), while imports increased at a faster pace (+31.8%), totalling USD 557.5 billion, also due to the rise in energy bills. In the same year, Italy exported services for a total value of USD 102.4 billion, while its imports amounted to USD 113.5 billion (+18.3% and +23.8% year-on-year, respectively). Already at the end of 2021, Italian exports had exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 7.5% (ISTAT). In the same year, overall trade surplus for goods and services stood at around 2.4% of GDP (from 3.6% one year earlier - World Bank). Looking at the first semester of 2022, data from ISTAT shows that exports went up 22.4% compared to the same period in 2020, while imports increased by 44.2% (at EUR 306.2 and 302.6 billion, respectively).