Foreign trade and import prices

Istat presents data on Italy’s foreign trade as well as unit value and volume indices (base year 2010=100) referring to March 2017.

• In March 2017 seasonally-adjusted data, compared to February 2017, increased by 4.0% for outgoing flows while they were stationary for incoming flows. Exports increased for both areas: +6.5% for non EU countries and +2.1% for EU countries. The stationary of imports is the result of an increase for non EU countries (+0.4%) and a drop for EU countries (-0.3%). Over the last three months, seasonally-adjusted data, in comparison with the previous three months, showed a growth of 3.0% for exports and of 3.3% for imports.

• In March 2017, compared with the same month of the previous year, exports and imports increased (+14.5% and +16.3% respectively). Outgoing flows increased by 14.1% for EU countries and by 15.1% for non EU countries. Incoming flows increased by 14.7% for EU area
  and by 19.0% for non EU area. The trade balance in March amounted to +5,4 billion Euros (+1,250 million Euros for EU area and +4,168 million Euros for non EU countries).

The import price index measures the evolution of prices for industrial products bought by industrial and commercial enterprises in Italy, both in the euro zone and the non-euro zone. Since March 2010 indices are compiled in the reference base 2010.

In March 2017 the total import price index decreased by 0.4% compared to the previous month (the index increased by 0.3% for the euro zone and decreased by 1.0% for the non-euro zone); the total twelve-month rate of change increased by 4.6% (respectively increased by 1.8% for the euro zone and by 6.8% for the non-euro zone).

The quarterly total index increased by 1.5% compared with the previous period, by 0.5% for the euro zone and by 2.1% for the non-euro zone.