Monthly report on Italian economy

The international outlook, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its related containment measures, remains exceptionally negative.

In the first quarter, in Italy the seasonally and calendar adjusted, chained volume measure of GDP, in line with its main European partners, decreased by 4.7% with respect to the previous quarter. The carry-over for 2020 is -4.9%.

The lockdown in Italy and in its main trading partners affected negatively Italian trade with the exception of sanitary products imports.

Retail trade of non-food items dropped, while the e-commerce increased sharply.

According to preliminary estimates, in April the increase of Italian consumer price index for the whole nation (NIC) was 0.1% on monthly basis and zero with respect to April 2019. The inflationary gap in favour of Italy with euro area inflation reduced.

In April, the social mood index on Italian economy showed that the negative trend started in February is proceeding. Marginal signs of improvement emerged at the end of the month.

The April monthly report includes a focus on the economic impact of the lockdown on Italian foreign trade, providing an analysis on the preliminary impact of the World demand fall on Italian manufacturing sector.