Italy's exports increased 2.1 percent in September year-on-year, the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) said on Tuesday. The latest figure is a positive sign for the country's economy as it is going through the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. September saw the first return to growth since Feb. 2020, according to ISTAT. The main driver of growth were sales to non-European Union (EU) countries (2.8 percent increase), followed by the sales to EU countries (1.4 percent). On an annual basis, the highest increases were recorded in exports to China (33 percent), followed by those to Poland (19.4 percent), Switzerland (15.7 percent) and Turkey (13.8 percent). Meanwhile, exports of refined petroleum products declined by 51.1 percent.
Overall, Italy's exports increased by 2.7 percent month-on-month in September. Here again, the growth was due to the "pronounced increase" in sales to non-EU markets (8.1 percent). Exports to EU countries declined slightly by 2.1 percent, ISTAT said. In the last three months, Italy's exports increased by 30.4 percent quarter-on-quarter.