New 'Made in Italy' dominates global trade surplus with 62 billion driven by pharmaceuticals, food and yachting
Italia ranks first in the world in 2024 for trade surplus thanks to innovative sectors, overtaking Germany and France, but faces energy and geopolitical challenges
by Lorenzo Pace
Key points
The trade balance of the 'new' Made in Italy is in first place worldwide. A 62 billion euro surplus that, in 2024, placed our country in first place, trailing Germany by 20.3 billion and France by 23.7 billion. Three sectors are the driving force: pharmaceuticals, food (from wines to pasta) and nautical.
This is the picture presented yesterday at the Ministry of Enterprise, with the report illustrated by the Edison Foundation on the state of companies in the region. It is, for Minister Urso, a 'starting point for a comparison on the potential of the production system', which makes 'diversification' its strong point.
Traditional Made in Italy
The analysis takes into account three aggregations created by the Edison Foundation, each of them consisting of fifteen product categories. The first is 'traditional' goods, such as clothing. The trade balance was the second largest in the world in 2024, far behind China. The latter closed with a positive balance of 210.5 billion, while our country closed with a positive balance of 38 billion.
Italia has increased it by 5 billion since 2014 but, considering the boom of an emerging country like Vietnam (+17.5 billion in the decade), it is likely to lose its second place in the world. Not least because the figure for the first nine months of 2025 was about a billion lower. Among these products, however, Italia achieved the highest surplus with bags, suitcases, beauty cases and document holders: exports were 10.4 billion, while imports were 3.8 billion.
Italian mechanics
Then there is the category labelled 'Mec', dedicated to mechanical engineering products. The largest export came from 'taps and fittings', but also boilers, tanks or tubs, with a value of 9.3 billion. The highest surplus, at 6.7 billion, came from packaging machines. In total, the sector's trade balance closed in the positive by 44.7 billion, placing our country in third place, behind the usual China (107.1 billion) and Germany (56.1 billion). But in this case, the first nine months of 2025 were 1.2 billion better than the year before.
