Italy Non-EU Trade Surplus Shrinks In November

(RTTNews) - Italy's non-EU trade surplus declined in November from a year ago, as imports grew faster than exports, preliminary data from the statistical office Istat showed on Monday.

The non-EU trade balance logged a surplus of EUR 5.90 billion in November, down from EUR 6.08 billion in the same month last year. In October, there was a surplus of EUR 5.8 billion.

Exports rose 0.4 percent year-over-year in November, reversing a 0.7 percent rise in October. Further, this was the first increase in four months.

Imports also rebounded 1.3 percent yearly in November, following a 4.0 decrease a month ago.

Exports to Turkey grew the most by 37.7 percent, followed by OPEC countries with a 19.3 percent increase. On the other hand, imports from the United States surged 40.3 percent.

On a monthly basis, both exports and imports expanded by 5.6 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively.

The growth in imports on both a monthly and annual basis was due in particular to the increased purchases of non-durable consumer goods and intermediate goods, the agency said.