Export of Italian regions

by ISTAT

Press release

In the first quarter of 2021, exports increased in seasonally-adjusted terms, compared with the previous period, by
+4.8% for the Centre,
+3.8% for the South and Islands,
+2.5% for the North-West
-0.5% for the North-East.

In the first quarter of 2021, compared with the previous year, exports rose in the Centre (+9.9%), in the South (+5.1%), in the North-East (+4.5%) and in the North-West (+2.2%) while dropped in the Islands (-6.8%).

In the first quarter of 2021, more relevant increases, according to their contribution to the total export growth, were recorded in Toscana (+11.3%), Lombardia (+3.5%), Emilia-Romagna (+6.1%), Lazio (+12.4%) and Veneto (+4.9%) while more relevant decreases were recorded in Liguria (-34.5%), Sicilia (-10.2%) and Friuli-Venezia Giulia (-8.2%).

In the first quarter of 2021, the increase in sales of base metals and metal products from Lombardy, Lazio and Veneto and machinery and equipment from Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany explains for 2 points percentages the growth of national exports. Otherwise, the contraction in the export of means of transport (excluding motor vehicles) from Liguria and Friuli-Venezia Giulia and pharmaceutical, chemical-medicinal items and botanicals from Lombardy provides a negative contribution of 1.6 points to the change in exports.

On an annual basis, the most marked contributions to the growth of national exports derive from the increase in sales from Lazio to the Netherlands (+ 158.5%), from Lombardy to Germany (+ 9.2%) and China (+ 36.4%) and from Tuscany to China (+ 145.2%) and the United States (+ 28.6%). Conversely, negative contributions come from the decrease in sales to the United States of Lombardy (-30.1%), Liguria (-72.7%) and Friuli-Venezia Giulia (-62.9%) and the drop in Sicily's exports to OPEC countries (-69.1%).

The provincial export analysis shows positive performances for over two thirds of the Italian provinces: i higher positive contributions were recorded for Florence, Rome, Turin, Brescia, Verona, Bologna and Bergamo. Yes they signal the negative dynamics of Genoa, Milan, Trieste and Syracuse.

The comment
In the first quarter of 2021, the cyclical growth of exports national is essentially driven by the increase in sales of Central and Northwest regions.
On an annual basis, the export dynamics are positive for all divisions, with the exception of the Islands. The biggest positive contributions they come from the great regions of the Center - Tuscany and Lazio - and of the North - Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna - whose performances explain by 3.5 percentage points the tendential increase in national exports.
The large declines in exports of Liguria and Friuli-Venezia Giulia are conditioned by occasional high-impact operations (shipbuilding naval) registered in the first quarter of 2020; for Sicily, the decline is mainly due to the contraction in sales of energy products.

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