ROME: Italy’s food exports are expected to increase by 5 percent a year on average through 2019, beating every other sector thanks to strong expansion in countries such as China, state-controlled export credit agency SACE said.
Italian food makers are traditionally small family-owned companies that find it difficult to sell their products abroad. However, poor demand at home, where the economy is only slowly emerging from a deep recession, is pushing companies to pursue growth elsewhere.
“In a world that is suffering due to the long-term effects of the global (financial) crisis, Italian food companies could seize growth opportunities in some countries where their presence has been limited so far,” SACE’s Chief Economist Alessandro Terzulli said.
SACE expects overall Italian exports to grow by 3.7 percent a year for the four years to the end of 2019. Italian food exports totalled 37 billion euros ($42 billion) last year, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the country’s total exports. Italian food and beverage exports to China are expected to grow at an annual rate of nearly 12 percent over the four years, SACE said. Exports to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar are seen at 9 percent over the period.
