ROME: Italy’s trade surplus increased to one-year high in July as the decline in imports exceeded the fall in exports, data from the statistical office Istat showed Friday. The trade surplus surged to EUR 7.79 billion from EUR 4.66 billion in June. This was the highest since July 2015, when the surplus totaled EUR 8.06 billion.
Exports declined sharply by 7.3 percent following a 0.5 percent fall in June. Likewise, imports decreased at a faster pace of 8.3 percent after easing 6.1 percent. The trade surplus with EU countries rose to EUR 2.9 billion from EUR 1.2 billion a month ago. Similarly, the surplus with non-EU countries increased to EUR 4.88 billion from EUR 3.46 billion.
