Export: if not now, when?

Export and Made in Italy have always been a Indispensable resource for the Italian economy. Over the years, in fact, they have played a crucial role as an accelerator of the growth and development of our entrepreneurial fabric, proving to be a key engine for the competitiveness of the Country System.

We have been saying this for several months and the data continue to bear it out: with the restrictions from Covid now behind us, Italian exports are, at this moment in history, stronger than ever before.

Peninsula enterprises must Believe in the possibility of increasing their turnovers, exploring new markets and creating profits. There are so many opportunities, most companies that are investing in exporting are getting favorable returns.

This is not meant to be an ultimatum but certainly, as is often the case in these situations, “first come, first served”. The market is extremely receptive and the demand for the Made in Italy continues to grow, but this will sooner or later begin to slow down, and only those who start immediately will benefit the most.

Italian export numbers (Istat data from April 2022):

- +5,8%: increase for Italian exports between December 2021 and February 2022 compared with the same period in the previous year;

- +22.7%: Year-on-year growth in exports to February 2022, with a strong increase in sales to both the EU area (+24.0%) and non-EU markets (+21.1%);

- Substances and chemicals Made in Italy have seen the largest increase (+34,1%), followed by base metals and metal products (+24.4%) and by foodstuffs and drinks (+23,1%);

- On an annual basis, the countries that contributed the most to the increase in Made in Italy exports were Spain (+33.3%), the United States (+24.4%), Germany (21.3%) and France (+16.0%).

The Digital Export Record

We also recall how 2021 was a year record for made-in-Italy exports, which have surpassed the 500 billion euro threshold, recording the highest level of exports ever observed before for our country.

Playing a decisive role in the recovery of product sales abroad was digital, which grew by 15% compared to 2020 both consumer (B2C, Business to Consumer) and business-to-business (B2B, Business to Business) goods.

The digital export of direct consumer goods (so through own website, marketplace, or private sales sites) or brokered (through online retailers) Has touched the value of 15.5 billion euros during the past year, reaching a weight of 9% of total exports to Italy. The most important sector is the fashion, which with a value of 8.6 billion (+20% over 2020) holds a 56% share of the total B2C digital export market.

In second place is the food & beverage, with 14% of the total, continuing its growth (+10%), but it slows down after the previous year's exploit (+46% in 2020). On the third step of the podium, on the other hand, is the sector of the’furniture, which with its 1.2 billion worth of, accounting for 7% of total online exports of consumer goods, marks an increase of 12% over 2020.

Regarding B2B digital export. (via channels such as EDI or Web EDI, Extranet, Marketplace), whose share of total product exports is 28.3% in 2021, the value achieved is 146 billion euros, a figure even above pre-Covid levels (134 billion in 2019).

The supply chain with the best numbers is the automotive (33 billion in value and a weight of 22.6% in total B2B digital exports), which registered 40% growth, coming close to doubling that of total exports (+22.6%).

This is followed by the textiles and clothing (accounting for 14.8% of total B2B exports), mechanics (10.8%), consumer goods (6.9%), electrical equipment (4.8%) and electronics (3.3%). The only B2B sector with a negative trend in online export is pharmaceuticals (3.1% of the market), which after a boom in 2020 (+66%) closed 2021 with a decline of 23%.