Export: if not now, when?

Export and Made in Italy have always been one essential 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 fundamental driver for the competitiveness of the country system.

We have been saying this for several months and the data continues to prove it: with the Covid restrictions now behind us, Italian exports are, in this historical moment, stronger than ever.

Businesses on the peninsula must believe in the possibility of increasing your turnover, exploring new markets and creating profits. The opportunities are many, most companies that are investing in exports obtain favorable returns.

It is not meant to be an ultimatum but certainly, as often happens in these situations, “First come, first served”. The market is extremely receptive and the demand for Made in Italy continues to grow but this situation, sooner or later, will begin to slow down and only those who start immediately will take full advantage of it.

The numbers of Italian exports (Istat data from April 2022):

– +5,8%: increase for Italian exports between December 2021 and February 2022 compared to the same period of the previous year;

– +22,7%: year-on-year growth in exports in February 2022, with a strong increase in sales both towards the EU area (+24.0%) and towards non-EU markets (+21.1%);

– Chemical substances and products Made in Italy saw the greatest increase (+34,1%), followed by base metals and metal products (+24,4%) and from foodstuffs and drinks (+23,1%);

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

The record of Digital Export

We also remember how 2021 has been a year record for Made in Italy exports, that have exceeded the threshold of 500 billion euros, recording the highest level of exports ever observed before for our country.

Digital played a decisive role in the recovery of the sale of products abroad, which grew by 15% compared to 2020 both in terms of consumer goods (B2C, Business to Consumer) and those intended for businesses (B2B, Business to Business).

The digital export of direct consumer goods (therefore through its own website, marketplace or private sales sites) or intermediary (through online retailers) touched the value of 15.5 billion euro during the last year, reaching a weight equal to 9% of overall exports to Italy. The most important sector is the fashion, which with a value of 8.6 billion euros (+20% on 2020) holds a 56% share of the overall B2C digital export market.

In second place is the food & beverage, with 14% of the total, which continues its growth (+10%), but slows down after the exploit of the previous year (+46% in 2020). On the third step of the podium is thefurniture, which with its value of 1.2 billion, equal to 7% of total online exports of consumer goods, marks an increase of 12% compared to 2020.

Regarding B2B digital export (via channels such as EDI or Web EDI, Extranet, Marketplace), whose impact on overall 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 that of the automotive industry (33 billion in value and a weight of 22.6% on total B2B digital exports), which recorded growth of 40%, coming close to doubling that of overall exports (+22.6%).

Then follow the textiles and clothing (with an impact on total B2B exports of 14.8%), mechanics (10.8%), consumer goods (6.9%), electrical material (4.8%) and electronics (3.3%). The only B2B sector with a negative trend in online exports is pharmaceuticals (3.1% of the market), which after the boom of 2020 (+66%) closed 2021 with a decline of 23%.