Istat: exports fell 1.5% and imports 1.6% in August
Seasonally adjusted trade shrank on the month, while import prices rose 1.7% and the trade balance showed a surplus of 1,773 million euros, Istat said.
AI illustrationExports fell by 1.5% and imports by 1.6% on the month in August 2026 on a seasonally adjusted basis, Istat said in its monthly release on foreign trade and import prices.
Sales to EU countries dropped 1.4% and those to non-EU countries 1.6%. Purchases from EU countries declined 2.9%, while purchases from outside the EU were unchanged.
Over the latest quarter, seasonally adjusted exports were up 0.7% and imports up 0.2% from the previous quarter.
Measured against August of last year, exports grew 9.0% and imports 9.7%. Shipments to non-EU markets climbed 16.7% and those to EU markets 1.6%. Imports from the non-EU area increased 17.3% and from the EU area 3.2%.
The trade balance showed a surplus of 1,773 million euros in August. That combined a deficit of 327 million euros with EU countries and a surplus of 2,100 million euros with non-EU countries. Leaving energy out, the surplus was 6,925 million euros.
Import prices rose 1.7% from the previous month, with increases of 0.7% for the euro zone and 2.7% for the non-euro zone. Over the past three months they were 0.8% higher than in the prior three months. Compared with a year earlier, import prices were up 7.3%, including 4.4% for the euro zone and 10.3% for the non-euro zone.