Exports still growing in the Mezzogiorno

The export trend in the South (Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Sardinia, Sicily, Apulia) shows positive signs compared to the other macro-regions and the country. In fact, between the first half of 2023 and that of 2024, exports grew by 3.59%, compared to the negative results of the North-East (-1.31%), Lombardy (-1.65%), the North-West (-7.55%) and Italy (-1.13%). In absolute terms, the area's foreign trade increased by EUR 982 million. At sector level, oil refining is the leading sector in terms of export weight (7.3 billion), although it is not the one with the highest growth rate between the two half-year periods. In fact, the medicines and pharmaceutical preparations sector, second in terms of economic weight, achieved a percentage increase of 47.8%, rising from 2.8 billion to 4.2 billion.

At the regional level, this positive trend is driven by the results in Sardinia (18.82%), Calabria (18.01%) and Campania (8.85%). Specifically, the prevailing sector in Sardinia is oil refining (3 billion, +17% compared to 2023), while in Calabria and Campania it is other chemical products -such as essential oils and glues- (120 million, +21%) and medicines and pharmaceutical preparations (3.7 billion, +55%). On the opposite side, Basilicata recorded a drop of -40.86% in foreign trade.

Within the macro-region, the provinces with the highest export value in absolute terms in 2024 are Naples (6.3 billion, +17%), Syracuse (3.8 billion, +4%) and Cagliari (2.8 billion, +20%). More specifically, the province of Campania benefits from the positive performance of the pharmaceuticals sector, which increases in absolute terms by 1.3 billion, while exports from Syracuse and Cagliari are mainly sustained by the oil refining sector, respectively 3.5 billion (+2%) and 3 billion (+17%). On the other hand, if we look at the percentage change in foreign trade in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, the performance of Crotone is striking (+258%), rising from 22 million to 88 million, thanks to the boost provided by the leather goods, textile and general-purpose machinery (furnaces, boilers, etc.) sectors to the tune of 35 million.

With regard to the economic partners of the southern regions, export peaks to Switzerland (+56%) were recorded in particular, with the medicines and pharmaceutical preparations sector growing by 67% (+1.3 billion). Incisive increases in sales to the Swiss outlet market were recorded in Campania (+63%), followed by Calabria (+27%), and Puglia (+18%). Lastly, exports to Egypt (+125 million, 64%), Slovenia (200 million) +49% and Croatia (208 million; 31%) grew, while exports to the United States (-15%) and Germany (-13%), the South's second and fourth largest economic partners, fell.