From cheese to sweets, from wine to cured meats, Italy continues to conquer palates around the world. If the trend of the first seven months of the year is confirmed (+9.3%), exports in the sector will reach a new all-time record at the end of 2024. This is reported in a report by the Federalimentare Study Center.

Food industry exports, after reaching 52.2 billion in 2023, doubling their value in ten years, confirm a vigorous push for the entire national economy, with growth that at the end of 2024 could reach 57.0 billion, with an additional share of 4.8 billion. An extraordinary result in a weak international context, in which trade expressed a modest +1.6% on the previous year.

If Federalimentare's estimates are confirmed by the end-of-year trend, adding the 11 billion foreseeable for the primary sector to the 57.0 billion of the food industry, agri-food exports in 2024 could reach the overall share of 68 billion, approaching the great goal of 70 billion.

In January-July 2024, among the most sought-after products abroad, those belonging to the wine sector stand out, with 5.0 billion euros of exports; to the confectionery sector, with 4.3 billion; to the dairy sector, with 3.4 billion; to the oil sector, with 2.6 billion; to the pasta sector, with 2.5 billion; to the processing of vegetables, with 2.5 billion.

Eating Italian is synonymous with quality, refinement, taste. These are qualities that the most important countries in the world agree on. Among the markets that especially love our products, the United States stands out. The growth of this market in the first seven months of the year is very significant, with an export value of over 4.4 billion euros, a +19.7% on the same period in 2023 and a share of the foreign market in the sector equal to 13.5%. Germany still leads the way, however, continuing to be the leader in the ranking, with 4.6 billion (+5.3% on the first seven months of 2023) and a market share of 14.2%. The 2024 exports of the sector are also consolidated in the countries close to the first two, namely Spain (+9.2%), the United Kingdom (+7.0%), and France (+4.0%).

This is not a coincidence: it rewards a sector that safeguards and brings together the iconic values of an invaluable heritage of culture, quality and goodness of Made in Italy.