In the first six months of the year as a whole, exports fell for all areas, with the exception of the South. This is what Istat reports, explaining that in the period January-June, the annual decrease in national exports in value (-1.1%) is the result of different territorial dynamics: the North-West (-3.5%), the Centre (-2.3%) and the North-East (-1.4%) recorded a decline in sales abroad, while a marked growth in exports was recorded for the Islands (+7.3%) and a more modest increase for the South (+1.9%).
In the first six monthsthe largest trend declines in exports concern Marche (-41.3%), Basilicata (-40.9%) and Liguria (-26.3%); while the most dynamic regions in terms of exports are Sardinia (+18.8%), Calabria (+18.0%)Molise (+14.2%), Campania (+8.8%) and Tuscany (+8.7%).
In the same period, the sharp reduction in sales of pharmaceutical, chemical-medicinal and botanical products from Marche contributed 1.4 percentage points to the decline in national exports; a further negative contribution of 1.1 points came from lower exports of motor vehicles from Piedmont and Basilicata and of base metals and metal products, excluding machinery and equipment from Lombardy and Veneto. On the other hand, the increase in sales of sporting goods, games, musical instruments, precious metals, medical instruments and other products not classified elsewhere (nec) from Tuscany and of pharmaceutical, chemical-medicinal and botanical products from Tuscany, Campania and Lazio provided a positive boost of 2.0 percentage points.
In the first half of the year, the largest negative contributions to the annual decline in national exports came from the contraction in sales of the Marche region to China (-94.9%) and Belgium (-55.8%), Tuscany to Switzerland (-64.8%), Liguria to the United States (-80.5%) and Lombardy to Germany (-6.0%), the United States (-5.7%) and France (-5.3%). The largest positive contributions, however, came from the increase in exports of Tuscany to Turkey (+275.8%) and the United States (+40.0%), Campania to Switzerland (+63.6%) and Friuli-Venezia Giulia to the United States (+119.3%).
In the second quarter of 2024, exports are almost stationary in cyclical terms for the Northern areas, growing for the Center and decreasing for the South and Islands – Istat notes in the comment – on an annual basis, exports are confirmed in decline for the North-West, are almost stationary for the North-East while they return to growth for the Center – after four negative quarters – and show slowing growth for the South and Islands”. And it continues: “Overall in the first six months of the year, exports are declining for all areas, with the exception of the South and Islands, whose growth is significantly contributed to by the increase in sales of pharmaceutical products from Campania and refining products from Sardinia. The marked decline in exports from the Marche to China is explained above all by lower sales of pharmaceutical products; the strong increase in exports from Tuscany to Turkey is due to significant sales of small parts and jewelry items made of precious metals”.