Italy Trade Surplus Shrinks In October

(RTTNews) - Italy's foreign trade surplus decreased in October from a year ago as imports rose faster than exports, data from the statistical office Istat showed on Tuesday.

The trade surplus dropped to EUR 4.2 billion in October from EUR 4.6 billion in the corresponding month last year. The expected surplus was EUR 3.22 billion.

In September, there was a surplus of EUR 3.0 billion.

Exports climbed 2.3 percent annually in October after an 11.1 percent surge in September. Outgoing flows to EU countries increased by 0.5 percent, and those to non-EU countries grew by 4.1 percent.

Data showed that imports rose 3.4 percent annually in October, following a 10.3 percent growth in the prior month.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, exports declined 3.0 percent, while imports increased 0.3 percent from a month ago. As a result, the trade surplus shrank to EUR 2.8 billion from EUR 4.5 billion in September.