Italy's foreign trade surplus increased notably in November from a year ago as imports fell faster than exports, data from the statistical office Istat showed on Monday.
The trade surplus rose to EUR 3.89 billion in November from EUR 1.45 billion in the corresponding month last year. That expected surplus was EUR 5.20 billion.
In October, there was a surplus of EUR 4.73 billion.
Exports fell 4.4 percent annually in November after a 3.1 percent rebound in September. Outgoing flows to non-EU countries decreased by 3.4 percent, and those to EU countries dropped by 5.4 percent.
Data showed that imports declined 8.9 percent annually in November, following a 9.2 percent fall in the prior month.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, both exports and imports slid by 2.4 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively, in November from a month ago. As a result, the trade surplus shrank to EUR 2.76 billion from EUR 3.77 billion in October.
