In August 2025, Italy’s trade with non-EU27 countries saw a marked contraction compared with the previous month. According to Istat estimates, exports fell by 8.1% on a monthly basis, while imports declined by 7.1%. The drop in exports was mainly driven by capital goods (-16.7%) and consumer goods, both durable (-9.4%) and non-durable (-7.8%), partially offset by increases in energy (+5.9%) and intermediate goods (+2.2%). On the import side, the downturn was widespread, with the sharpest reductions seen in non-durable consumer goods (-16.5%), intermediate goods (-6.1%) and durable consumer goods (-5.1%).
Looking at the June–August 2025 quarter, exports remained almost stable (-0.1%), the result of declining durable (-6.2%) and non-durable (-4.6%) consumer goods offset by growth in energy (+21.2%), capital goods (+2.5%) and intermediate goods (+2.1%). Over the same period, imports fell by 0.8%, with generalised declines except for capital goods, which rose by 3.5%.
Year-on-year data show a reversal from the previous month. After a 9.9% increase in July, exports to non-EU countries fell by 7.7% in August 2025. The decline was most pronounced for durable consumer goods (-26.3%), non-durable consumer goods (-13.2%) and capital goods (-8.4%), while energy (+23.7%) and intermediate goods (+1.9%) continued to grow. Imports decreased by 3.1%, with reductions across nearly all categories except non-durable consumer goods, which rose sharply (+23.0%).
The trade balance with non-EU countries remained positive but narrowed to €1,777 million, down from €2,794 million in August 2024. The energy deficit decreased to €-3,571 million (from €-4,244 million a year earlier), while the surplus in non-energy products fell from €7,038 million to €5,348 million.
Geographically, Italian exports declined towards nearly all major non-EU markets. The sharpest contractions were seen in Turkey (-26.1%) and the United States (-21.2%), together accounting for over half of the overall drop. In contrast, exports to the United Kingdom (+4.9%) and Switzerland (+4.7%) grew. On the import side, the steepest declines came from the United Kingdom (-36.6%) and OPEC countries (-27.1%), while flows from India (-9.7%), China (-7.1%) and Mercosur countries (-5.8%) also decreased. Conversely, imports from the United States (+68.5%) and ASEAN countries (+13.6%) increased.
According to Istat, the sharp fall in exports in August followed two consecutive months of growth and was largely linked to lower sales of capital and non-durable consumer goods. Taking into account the extraordinary impact of shipbuilding deliveries recorded in July, the month-on-month decline would have been smaller, at -5.8% instead of -8.1%.
