Italian agri-food exports are breaking historical records: wine is the most exported product

A record pace with wine acting as the locomotive. It is held by Italian agri-food exports, which, if current growth rates continue, will exceed 60 billion in 2022. A figure that has never been achieved before, despite the period of uncertainty caused by the conflict in Ukraine, as well as the increased energy sources that are affecting global production and consumption. According to the Coldiretti analysis (based on Istat data on foreign trade for the first eight months of 2022), there is a + 20% increase, with Germany remaining the main food export market, increasing by 14% from January to August, ahead of the United States, which increased by 20%, and France, which is in third place but has achieved a 20% growth rate. Positive news also from the United Kingdom with + 19% which highlights how Italian exports proved stronger than Brexit. The double-digit increase also in Turkey (+ 31%) while a negative figure comes from China with a decrease of 24% and in Russia (-11%). To drive Made in Italy in the world is wine, according to Coldiretti, is the most exported Made in Italy product, followed by fresh fruit and vegetables. “To support the growing trend of national food and wine, it is now necessary to act on Italy’s structural delays and unlock all the infrastructures that would improve connections between the South and the North of the country, but also with the rest of the world by sea and high-speed rail, with a network of hubs, made up of airports, trains and cargo”, said President of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini, who underlined “the importance of seizing the opportunity of the Pnrr to modernize the national logistics that every year represents for our country damage in terms of lower export opportunities. But it is also important to work on internationalization to help companies enter new markets and strengthen existing ones by expanding the Ice Agency’s strategic role with the support of embassies”.