Posted this morning the preliminary estimate by Istat on foreign trade with non-EU countries. The fact that makes the most news is that in December of 2011, “for the first time in a long time” reads the press release verbatim, the trade balance with non-EU countries was positive for around 1,999 billion compared to a deficit of 1,451 billion in December 2010.
Also in the month of December it is recorded a quarter-on-month growth in exports of 5,4% and a drop in imports of 3,1%. On a trend basis +11,2% for exports (increase that involved all the main sectors, especially intermediate products, non-durable consumer goods and capital goods) and -12,4%, for imports, whose decrease, however, net of the purchases of solar panels, strongly contracted compared to 2010, would drop to 7,3%
The situation is different and much more complex if the entire calendar year is taken into consideration, even if the trade deficit (-21,6 billion) showed a slight improvement compared to 2010. The energy deficit (-60,9 billion) grew significantly compared to 2010 (-53 billion), while the surplus in the trade of non-energy products increased considerably, going from 30,9 billion in 2010 to 39,3 billion in 2011. Overall, the average annual results for 2011 report +14,9% for exports and +12,6% for imports.
