Darkness on industry: revenues down 5.7%

Exports fell, almost one point between January and September. And production was also bad, down 3.4% in the first nine months. A context in which selling more, in the absence of significant inflation, is impossible. As certified by the latest Istat data on manufacturing for September, which closes the circle of the month's analysis with the trend in revenues. Disappointing, with a decrease of 0.3% per month, 5.7% year-on-year.

An all-round reduction, which also involved volumes (-4.7% per year) and was reflected in both exports (-3.6%) and the domestic market (-6.8%).

September in monthly figures represents the fifth consecutive period of economic decline for industry turnover. The index in value, net of seasonal factors, is at its lowest level since January 2022, while for volumes it is at its lowest level since February 2021.

A manufacturing slowdown fuelled by several critical elements, including the German slowdown and the difficulties of the car industry, a drop in demand for luxury goods impacting textiles-clothing, an internal impasse on Transition 5.0 bonuses that with few exceptions (see the case of Palm's pallets) is holding back investment in plant and machinery.

 In September, industry turnover, net of seasonal factors, is estimated to have decreased cyclically by 0.3% in value and 0.1% in volume. There were declines on the domestic market (-0.9% in value and -0.6% in volume) and increases on the foreign market (+0.9% in value and +0.7% in volume). For the services sector, there was an increase of 0.5% in value and 0.7% in volume, with positive dynamics in both wholesale trade (+0.2% in value and +0.3% in volume) and other services (+0.9% in value and +1.0% in volume).