In the third quarter of 2023, international trade in goods of the G20 nations recorded a new cyclical downturn, in terms of value, compared to the previous quarter. After the reduction marked in the second quarter of this year - announced today the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - exports and imports in the following quarter decreased by -1.2% and -2.1% respectively, reflecting a the slowdown continues, especially in East Asia and Europe.

In particular, in the third quarter of this year, the exports showed a quarterly percentage change negative and -1.5% in the European Union, with more than -2.0% in Germany and France, due to lower sales of machinery and transport equipment. In East Asia, exports from the China suffered a decline of -6.1% largely determined by starts with the reduction in the value of the export of machinery and steel products, while imports fell by -3.5%. In addition, exports to Japan declined slightly (-0.7%) and increased in Korea (+1.2%) driven by strong car sales. Imports, on the other hand, declined both in Japan and Korea as a result of the reduction in imports of energy products. Lower commodity sales had a negative impact on a negative impact on exports from Australia, and from Indonesia. In contrast, North America recorded a recovery in exports, especially from the USA, mainly from the thanks to the automotive and energy sectors.

Relative to the value of nations' trade in services of the G20, the OECD specified that preliminary estimates indicate a flattening of growth in the third quarter of 2023 compared to to the previous quarter. In particular, it is considered that the exports and imports of services have grown only +0.1% and +0.2% respectively after growth of +1.1% and +1.0% in the second quarter of this year. In the U.S. Exports of services increased by +1.8%, due to a increase in sales of travel and business services, while Imports grew by only +0.2%. Exports of services in Canada increased by +0.8%, while imports increased significantly by +3.3% and were driven by mainly from travel. Exports of services to Germany grew slightly, while imports declined in line with lower travel expenses. A sharp increase in France of travel expenses has led to an increase in imports of services (+2.9%), while exports remained stable. The United Kingdom has seen a marked increase in exports and imports of services (+2.9% and +3.7%) driven in both cases the dynamism of trade in business services. The transport services, in particular of goods, weighed on the exports of services from East Asia, which have suffered a sharp contraction in Japan, China and Korea. On the contrary, a Increased travel has driven import growth in Korea and Japan. In Brazil, exports of services increased by +5.1%, driven by travel and telecommunications services, while Imports grew by +2.0%.

With regard to Italy, in the third quarter of 2023 the value of of trade in goods decreased by -0.5% for the exports amounted to $169.9 billion, and a sharper decline of -3.7% for imports, $157.0 billion, while the value of trade in services declined by -2.3% and -1.3% for exports and imports that recorded values of $36.2 billion and $41.7 billion.