Italy's foreign trade balance turned to a deficit in October from a surplus in the same month last year, as imports grew more rapidly than exports amid a large energy deficit, data from the statistical office Istat showed on Friday.
The trade balance for October was a deficit of EUR 2.12 billion versus a surplus of EUR 2.22 billion in the corresponding month last year.
In September, there was a deficit of EUR 6.51 billion.
The energy deficit remained large at EUR 8.8 billion in October, compared with a shortfall of EUR 12.0 billion in September.
Exports climbed 17.5 percent year-over-year in October, following a 21.9 percent gain in September.
Outgoing flows to EU countries increased 18.2 percent and those to non-EU countries gained 16.8 percent.
The annual growth in imports was 28.2 percent in October versus a 40.9 percent surge a month ago.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, both exports and imports dropped by 1.1 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively. As a result, the trade gap narrowed to EUR 3.27 billion from EUR 5.92 billion.
In October, the month-on-month decline in exports was due to the decline in sales to non-EU countries, in particular of capital goods, the agency said.
Data also showed that import prices decreased 0.9 percent monthly, while they grew notably by 15.9 percent on an annual basis in October.
