Italian exports grew by 2.6% compared to August, when they recorded a sharp decline compared to both the previous month and 2024 data. The data from the United States is particularly positive, to which exports have grown by 34% in the last 12 months and by 9% since the beginning of the year.
In September, Italian companies made up for the collapse in August exports to the USA. A clue to the fact that the trade agreement reached with the European Union does not particularly damage Italian products. The August result was probably linked to the accumulation of inventories by American companies in view of the entry into force of the tariffs.
Italian exports grow in September
The data Istat relating to September on exports provide a comforting picture after the declines in August. On a monthly basis, the +2.6% recorded is driven by a +6.4% towards non-EU countries, while there was a slight decline (-0.8%) towards the single market. In the last 12 months growth was 10.5%, made up of
- +10.2% towards EU countries;
- +10.9% towards non-EU countries.
However, data since the beginning of the year indicate a slowdown in this growth. In the first nine months of the year, export growth was only 3.5%, due to an uncertain trend in non-EU exports, which remained at +2.4%. This appears to be the main result of the tariffs. Another figure to underline is that of imports, which in September far exceeded exports in terms of growth, stabilizing at 4.1%.
Exports to the USA rebound
The most comforting data comes from the United States. In September the USA once again became the first country in terms of growth in Italian exports. After a collapse of over 21% in the value of our country’s exports to Washington, in September there was a leap of 34.7% on an annual basis, which brought the figure back onto a growth trajectory.
Exactly as with the general data, however, growth has also slowed down for the USA since the beginning of the year. Between January and September, Italian exports to the United States increased by only 9%. The sectors most exposed to the American economy are:
- means of transport, 24.4% of total exports;
- pharmaceuticals, 19.6% of total exports;
- machinery, 16.6% of total exports.
These results are probably the result of the end of frontloading. When Trump announced new tariffs before the summer, American companies began stocking up on imported goods from Europe, including Italian ones. When the tariffs came into force in August, they therefore found themselves with full warehouses, without the need to import as usual.
The sectors that are growing the most abroad
Italian exports are still very much affected by sales in the naval sector to the United States, which push the transport sector to the top of the fastest growing sectors. In September, however, it is the drugs that take center stage again. It is precisely exports to the United States, probably driven by the end of pre-duty stocks, that are helping this sector.
The ranking of the manufacturing sectors with exports growing the most compared to September 2024 levels reads:
- pharmaceuticals, +39.4%;
- means of transport, +21.6%;
- metallurgy, +19.0%.
