In 2021 the trade between Italy and Germany reached a new record

Last year, according to Istat data, Italian exports towards Germany reached 66.9 billion euros (+21.1%), and imports also recorded sustained growth, equal to 25.5%, rising to 75.7 billion. Germany reconfirms itself first trading partner for Italy, while for Germany Italy is in sixth place, fourth among EU countries. At the level of percentage growth, Italy is the second country for percentage increase in the total trading volume with Berlin, surpassed only by Belgium (+27.1%).

At the regional level, they confirm their role as a driving force for the bilateral trade relations in the regions of Northern Italy (Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna) and the Länder more industrialized (Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland North-Westphalia). It also further increases the role of Lombardy, which is worth 47 billion annually, plus twice as much as Veneto in second place (20 billion).

From the analysis of Istat data it also emerges that almost all the sectors on which trade is traditionally based Italian-German are growing not only compared to 2020, but also compared to 2019, with an overcoming of pre-crisis levels in the individual key sectors. Industrial production remains the pivot of the flows between the two countries, with important performances by the steel, chemical-pharmaceutical, machinery sector, of agri-food and electrotechnics-electronics. In mild Italian exports also rose compared to pre-pandemic levels in the automotive sector, amounting to 7.64 billion, while imports from Germany in the same sector grows substantially compared to the 2020 (+15.2%) without equaling the 2019 figure.

"The interchange data for 2021 - he underlined Monica Poggio, President of AHK Italien and CEO of Bayer Italia - confirm the absolute economic interdependence which binds Italy and Germany. During 2020, the reports so consolidated have basically withstood the test of the pandemic returning to growth in 2021 even beyond the levels of 2019: it is the demonstration that we are not facing a simple rebound but the resumption of structural links for two economies, with chains of value reinforced during the crisis. Precisely this aspect will be central in the face of the challenges we face, transition ecological and energy issues in the first place, to win which it will be crucial to prepare common strategies"."

Referring to the prospects of trade between the two countries, Jörg Buck, Managing Director of AHK Italien, noted that "Today, trade is also weighed down by related concerns the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia, with a possible contraction of trade in 2022, but - he specified - the two countries have all the tools to cope with the situation. In this sense, strategies will also be central Europeans, especially in the field of energy policy'.