Fifth among manufacturing countries, after the revision of the time-series data carried out by the US association, Italy confirmed its third place among exporters and gained one position in the consumption ranking, where it came in fifth, as a testimony to the liveliness of its domestic demand.

The positive trend reported since 2014 will continue throughout 2017 – the year in which production, export and consumption will grow, also supported by the measures of the National Plan Industry 4.0 – and it will drive both the deliveries of manufacturers in the domestic market and imports. No other country, among the leaders of the sector, will record such significant increases as those obtained by Italy.

This is in short the framework presented recently by the President, Massimo Carboniero, on the occasion of the annual general meeting of UCIMU-Sistemi Per Produrre members, which was also attended by the Minister of the Economic Development, Carlo Calenda, in interactive video-conference from Rome, and by the Vice-President of the National Confindustria, with responsibility for industrial policy, Giulio Pedrollo.

In particular, in 2016, production increasedby 6.4%, amounting to 5,552 million euro. The outcome was due to the positive trend of the manufacturers’ deliveries in the domestic market, grown by 25.7%, to 2,300 million. On the contrary, exports suffered a setback. After going down by 4%, to 3,252 million euro, the value of exports went back to the levels of 2014, completely cancelling the rise achieved in 2015.

In 2016, the major destination markets of the Italian product offering turned out to be: Germany (377 million, + 1%), the United States (352 million, -9.4%), China (315 million, -6.9%), France (224 million + 23.2%), Poland (137 million, +7.2%), Spain (116 million, +14%), Mexico (99 million, +29.3%) and Turkey (87 million, -5.1%).

A strongly positive performance was registered with regard to consumption, which showed a double-digit increase for the third consecutive year, reaching 3,859 million euro, i.e., 15.3% more versus 2015.

Massimo Carboniero, President of UCIMU-Sistemi Per Produrre, pointed out: “In a situation of general regression regarding the world industry of the sector, Italy proved to have the means and the strength to grow and to grow again, compared to what it already did in the previous two-year period. Owing to this trend, the turnover of the sector exceeded 8 billion euro.”