Italy Sharply Reduces Trade Deficit

May 24, 2012
Exports grew by 2.3%.

Italy reported on May 23 a big cut in its trade deficit with countries outside the European Union in April to 904 million euros (US$1.14 billion) from 2.516 billion euros in April of last year.

The national statistics institute Istat which published the data said that imports fell by 8.1% on weak internal demand. Italy entered recession at the end of 2011. Exports grew by 2.3%, however.

A deficit on the energy account grew slightly to 5.71 billion euros from 5.109 billion euros, but on the non-energy account a surplus grew strongly to 4.567 billion euros from 2.593 billion euros.

Imports from Japan fell by 29.3% and from China by 28.9%.

Meanwhile exports to Japan rose by 34.2%, to OPEC oil producing countries by 22.1%, to Switzerland by 12.4% and to the United States by 8.3%.

Exports to China fell by 13.8%.

The latest Italian data indicated that part of the improvement reflected recessionary tendencies in the Italian economy, but also an improved performance on foreign markets outside the EU.

Eurozone countries in difficulty, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and now Italy have reported a marked improvement in their trade balances recently.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012

Popular Sponsored Recommendations

Four Common OT Cybersecurity Pitfalls for Manufacturers

April 4, 2023
For the last six years, Dragos has leveraged their Professional Services team to develop an on-the-ground understanding of the realities facing the industrial community and to...

Empowering the Modern Workforce: The Power of Connected Worker Technologies

March 1, 2024
Explore real-world strategies to boost worker safety, collaboration, training, and productivity in manufacturing. Emphasizing Industry 4.0, we'll discuss digitalization and automation...

How Manufacturers Can Optimize Operations with Weather Intelligence

Nov. 2, 2023
The bad news? Severe weather has emerged as one of the biggest threats to continuity and safety in manufacturing. The good news? The intelligence solutions that build weather ...

Transformative Capabilities for XaaS Models in Manufacturing

Feb. 14, 2024
The manufacturing sector is undergoing a pivotal shift toward "servitization," or enhancing product offerings with services and embracing a subscription model. This transition...

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of IndustryWeek, create an account today!