According to the report from Istat, in December 2018, compared with the same month of the previous year, exports decreased (-2.7%) and imports raised (+1.4%). Outgoing flows drop by 5.1 for non EU countries and by 0.3 for EU countries. Incoming flows rose by 8.1% for non EU area and declined by 2.7% for EU area.

The trade balance in December amounted to +3,658 million Euros (+4,270 million Euros for non EU area and -613 million Euros for EU countries), compared with +3,847 million Euros in November. A trade surplus was expected to drop to +3,47 million Euros.

In December 2018 the total import prices index decreased by 1.6% compared to the previous month (the index decreased for the euro zone by 0.3 and by 3.0% for the non-euro zone); the total twelve-month rate of change increased by 3.0% (respectively increased by 1.1% for the euro zone and by 4.8% for the non-euro zone).