Italy trade with China: imports down 12.3% in September

WEDNESDAY, 4 NOVEMBER 2026

After +16% in August, Italian purchases from China fell year on year in September. Within non-EU imports, non-durable consumer goods dropped 40.1% while energy rose 68.9%.

Italy trade with China turned in September 2026: imports from China fell by 12.3% compared with September 2025. The estimate comes from Istat, the Italian national statistics office, in its 29 October release on trade with non-EU countries: a month earlier, in August, the same flow had grown by 16.0% year on year, while total imports from outside the Union rose by 6.3% in September, driven mainly by energy.

Italy trade with China and outside the EU: the September figures

Istat uses two comparisons. Annual changes are calculated on raw data, monthly changes on seasonally adjusted data, and in September they point in different directions: compared with August, non-EU imports rose by 1.4% and exports fell by 1.3%; compared with September 2025, both grew, imports by 6.3% and exports by 5.4%. The monthly figures are provisional.

• Imports from China: -12.3% on September 2025, after +16.0% year on year in August.
• Imports of non-durable consumer goods from non-EU countries: -40.1% on September 2025, the only group in decline.
• Imports of non-durable consumer goods in the third quarter: -11.9% on April-June (seasonally adjusted data).
• Energy imports: +68.9% year on year, with an energy deficit of 5,727 million euro (3,438 million in September 2025).
• Non-EU imports in the first nine months of 2026: +6.4% on the same period of 2025; exports +5.8%.

Where less is coming from, and where more

The drop from China is not isolated. Year on year, Istat records lower purchases in September also from the United States (-26.6%) and from the ASEAN countries (-6.4%), the South-East Asian group that includes Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Imports grow instead from OPEC countries (+73.7%), India (+66.7%), the Mercosur countries (+45.1%) and Switzerland (+15.4%).

By product group, the annual rise in imports covers every group except non-durable consumer goods: intermediate goods grow by 18.4%, capital goods by 7.4%, durable consumer goods by 3.1%. Over July-September, compared with the previous three months, non-EU imports as a whole fall by 1.6%, and Istat attributes the drop mainly to lower purchases of non-durable consumer goods.

In the other direction the picture is the opposite: Italian exports to China grow by 31.4% year on year, and the trade surplus with non-EU countries in the first nine months reaches 36.1 billion euro, against 35.3 billion in the same period of 2025.

What the figure measures and what it does not

The -12.3% measures the euro value of what Italy bought from China in one month, compared with the same month a year earlier. It does not measure volumes, and the release does not break the decline down by product: it does not say whether orders, prices paid or the product mix went down. Nor does it say that Chinese suppliers have more spare capacity, or that purchases have shifted to other countries: India and Mercosur are growing, but in products the release does not specify.

Two points call for caution. The first is volatility: in two months the same flow moves from +16.0% to -12.3%, and a single month says little about a trend. The second is the comparison with September 2025, which may include shipments brought forward or delayed for reasons specific to that year. The figure does, however, signal a slowdown in Italian purchases of non-durable consumer goods in the very months when orders for the next season are prepared.

What it means for importers from China

The figure does not prove that buying in China is now easier or cheaper, but it suggests a context in which it is worth moving with some extra care. A few practical points:

For companies ordering consumer goods such as housewares, personal care items or promotional products, this is a good moment to ask for updated quotes and compare them with last year's on the same specifications: if European demand is slowing, some factories may be more flexible on minimum quantities and lead times.

Companies weighing alternative suppliers in South-East Asia or India should compare offers on the same technical specification, with the same quality checks and the same Incoterm: a lower price counts for little if materials, tolerances or delivery times change.

On volumes it makes sense to think by quarter rather than by month: the next monthly Istat release, for October, will show whether September was an unusual month or the start of a different phase.

Orders from China with the -12.3% on the table

With La Merce, companies importing consumer goods from China can turn a month like September, with imports down 12.3%, into a concrete negotiation: updated quotes from several factories on the same specification, verified samples and inspection before shipment.

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