In October, the Italian trade balance showed a surplus of 4,1 billion, higher than the +2,3 billion recorded in the same month of 2013, bringing the figure since the beginning of the year to +23,7 billion. Net of energy, assets in October amounted to 8,9 billion, while in the first ten months of 2013 they reached almost 70 billion. Istat communicated it.
Compared to the previous month, in October there was a decrease in both exports (-0,5%) and, more significantly, imports (-2,6%). On an annual basis, however, there was a limited increase in exports (+0,8%), a synthesis of the growth in average unit values (+1,3%) and the reduction in volumes (-0,6%) ; the marked decline in imports (-4,3%) is determined by the contraction of both volumes (-1,6%) and average unit values (-2,8%).
The cyclical decrease in exports is the synthesis of the increase in sales to non-EU area countries (+0,8%) and the decrease in those to EU area countries (-1,5%). The decrease in imports is determined, to a greater extent, by the reduction in purchases from EU countries (-3,6%).
In October there was a marked cyclical decline in the import of capital goods (-6,0%). Purchases of intermediate products (-4,1%) and consumer goods (-2,0%) also contracted. Also on the export side, capital goods (-1,9%) and intermediate products (-1,0%) are down, while consumer goods grow by 1,4%.
In the quarter August-October 2013, compared to the previous quarter, there was a growth in both imports (+1,2%) and, to a lesser extent, exports (+0,6%). The latter result is the synthesis of an increase in sales to EU area countries (+1,6%) and a decrease in those to non-EU area countries (-0,6%).
