Foreign trade: exports up 1.6 per cent in June, imports up 1.2 per cent. Energy deficit rises

Imports recorded a year-on-year increase of 13.2 per cent in value, with stronger growth in the non-EU area (+18.7 per cent) compared with the EU (+9.1 per cent); in volume terms, imports rose by 2.8 per cent.

With the exception of furniture (-2.2%), year-on-year growth in exports was seen across all sectors; the sectors contributing most to growth are base metals and metal products, excluding machinery and plant (+25.8%), coke and refined petroleum products (+45.1%), means of transport, excluding motor vehicles (+13.3%) and motor vehicles (+17.0%).

On a year-on-year basis, Germany (+22.9%) is the country making the largest positive contribution to national exports; followed by France (+6.8%), the Netherlands (+22.4%), Switzerland (+10.5%) and Spain (+9.4%).

The largest negative contribution, however, stems from lower exports to the United Kingdom (-8.5 per cent). In the first half of 2026, exports recorded year-on-year growth of 4.5 per cent, driven mainly by higher sales of base metals and metal products, excluding machinery and plant (+28.9 per cent), coke and refined petroleum products (+23.3%) and motor vehicles (+8.3%). The trade surplus (+24.5 billion euros) is up compared with the first half of 2025 (+22.radiocr8 billion).

In June 2026, import prices fell by 1.3 per cent month-on-month, whilst rising by 4.9 per cent year-on-year (down from +6.5 per cent in May). This was reported by Istat.

The month-on-month fall in import prices and the slowdown in their year-on-year growth are mainly due to price falls for certain energy products (crude oil and refined petroleum products).

In the second quarter of 2026, import prices rose by 5.0 per cent compared with the previous quarter.

“Italia’s exports continue to grow. In June, overseas sales rose by 9.8 per cent compared with the same month in 2025; on a month-on-month basis, the increase was 1.6 per cent: a significant result that consolidates the extraordinary growth recorded last year in exports from our manufacturing sector, which enabled us to secure fourth place in the global export rankings”. This was written on X by Adolfo Urso, Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy. “In the first six months of the year, the trade surplus reached €24.5 billion, a sharp increase compared with the €22.8 billion recorded in the same period of 2025. The prophets of doom have been proven wrong,” he added.