Istat: exports slow in May (+0.2%)
Compared with the previous year, exports rose by 4.6 per cent
In May 2026, imports are estimated to have grown at a faster rate (+1.5%) than exports (+0.2%). According to data from Istat, the modest month-on-month increase in exports is the result of a rise in sales to non-EU countries (+0.8%) and a fall in sales to EU countries (-0.4%).
In the March–May 2026 quarter, compared with the previous quarter, exports rose by 4.6 per cent and imports by 7.2 per cent. In May 2026, exports rose by 4.1 per cent year-on-year in value terms, whilst they fell by 2.4 per cent in volume terms. The year-on-year growth in exports in monetary terms was stronger for non-EU markets (+6.8%) than for EU markets (+1.7%).
Imports recorded a year-on-year increase of 7.3 per cent in value, with growth much stronger for non-EU countries (+15.5 per cent) than for EU countries (+1.3 per cent); in volume terms, imports fell by 2.5 per cent.
Among the sectors contributing most to the underlying growth in exports are: base metals and metal products, excluding machinery and plant (+26.2%), coke and refined petroleum products (+62.0 per cent), transport equipment, excluding motor vehicles (+20.6 per cent), and motor vehicles (+13.9 per cent). Exports of pharmaceutical, chemical-medicinal and botanical products fell year-on-year (-9.7%). On a year-on-year basis, Switzerland (+57.9%) is the country making the largest contribution to national exports; it is followed by China (+24.2%), the Netherlands (+8.6%) and countries Mercosur (+21.2%).
Exports to Turkey (-22.5%), Spain (-8.5%), the United States (-3.6%) and Germany (-3.3%) have fallen. In the period January–May 2026, exports recorded year-on-year growth of 3.4 per cent, driven mainly by higher sales of base metals and metal products, excluding machinery and plant (+29.5 per cent). The largest negative contribution, however, came from lower exports of transport equipment, excluding motor vehicles (-4.0%), and sports goods, games, musical instruments, jewellery, medical instruments and other products not classified elsewhere (-5.3%).
