FX.co ★ Italy Trade Surplus Widens More than Expected

In May 2025, Italy reported a trade surplus of €6.163 billion, a decrease from €6.377 billion in the same month the previous year. Despite this slight reduction, the surplus figure significantly exceeded market expectations, which had forecasted a surplus of €2.87 billion. This surplus was also the highest recorded since July 2024. Exports experienced a 1.9% decline year-on-year, amounting to €55.088 billion. This decline was primarily driven by a 4.6% decrease in sales to non-EU countries, which outweighed a modest 0.7% rise in exports to EU markets. Key sectors that contributed negatively include computers, electronic and optical equipment (-15.9%) and sporting goods, games, musical instruments, precious metals, medical instruments, and other miscellaneous products (-15.1%). Concurrently, imports fell by 1.7% to €48.925 billion, with a more pronounced decrease in purchases from non-EU countries (-3.4%) compared to those from EU nations (-0.4%). The drop in imports was largely due to decreased acquisition of energy products (-14.2%), intermediate goods (-6.6%), and capital goods (-2.6%).