In medicines, the lifesaver of Made in Italy

This momentum comes particularly from the Florence district, with the Tuscan province managing to sell nearly two billion euros to Washington in the first quarter, confirming its leadership in US exports among all Italian regions, once again ahead of Milan.

More generally, and beyond the temporary boost from tariffs, robust growth has been visible in the pharmaceutical industry for years, with Italy consolidating its role as a global manufacturing hub thanks to the progress of domestic producers but, above all, the ongoing production investments of the numerous multinationals that have established themselves here. In ten years, the sector's exports have thus skyrocketed: from €19.9 billion in 2015 to nearly €54 billion in 2024. Meanwhile, the €35.7 billion in exports generated in the first half of the year are already higher than the figures for the entire year of 2019 (as well as 2020 or 2021). As a result of this above-average progress, while in 2015 the pharmaceutical sector accounted for 5% of our manufacturing exports, we are now approaching 12%.

Looking at other Italian-made products in the first half of the year, the only other macro-sector with significant growth besides pharmaceuticals is the food sector, which gained more than five percentage points, nearly €1.5 billion more in absolute terms. Elsewhere, negative signs were visible almost everywhere, albeit generally limited, with the sole exception of motor vehicles, the only area with a double-digit decline. For the sector, this translates into €1.4 billion less in sales compared to the same period in 2024.

Looking at the results for individual countries, the best figure in terms of absolute export growth is for Spain, which saw growth of €2 billion (almost 12 percentage points), again driven by a boom in the pharmaceutical industry, where sales more than tripled. Germany's recovery is also noteworthy: after two years of decline, growth returned in the first half of the year, with gains of nearly €1 billion driven by non-autonomous transportation. The Middle East continues to make a significant contribution to growth, with the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia adding over €1 billion in sales in the first five months of the year compared to the same period in 2024.

The trade surplus is positive, though shrinking, and fell to €23 billion in the first half of 2025 due to increased imports from China. But once again, for this indicator too, Italy's winning asset is Washington: while awaiting assessment of the impact of the 15% tariffs on US demand, in the first half of the year the trade surplus with Washington exceeded €20 billion, an all-time six-month record now threatened by new tariff policies.