Italy Trade Balance Turns To Deficit In January

(RTTNews) - Italy's foreign trade balance turned to a deficit in January from a surplus in the previous year as imports grew much faster than exports, data from the statistical office Istat showed on Tuesday.

The trade balance for January was a shortfall of EUR 264 million versus a EUR 2.5 billion surplus in the corresponding month last year.

In December, there was a surplus of EUR 5.8 billion.

Exports rose 2.5 percent annually in January after a 2.9 percent growth in December.

Data showed that imports surged 8.8 percent annually in January, following a 2.1 percent gain in the prior month. Imports from EU countries increased 2.2 percent, while those to non-EU countries jumped by 18.0 percent.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, both exports and imports rose by 0.6 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively. As a result, the trade surplus shrank to EUR 3.5 billion from EUR 4.7 billion in December.