Italy Trade Balance Swings To Surplus

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

The trade balance for January was a surplus of EUR 2.65 billion versus a EUR 4.2 billion deficit in the corresponding month last year.

In December, there was a surplus of EUR 5.5 billion.

Exports fell 0.2 percent annually in January after a 7.8 percent decline in November. Outgoing flows to EU countries remained flat, while those to non-EU countries dropped by 0.4 percent.

Data showed that imports shrank 13.5 percent annually in January, following a 17.3 percent slump in the prior month.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, both exports and imports dropped by 3.2 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively. As a result, the trade surplus rose to EUR 6.77 billion from EUR 4.99 billion in December.