Italian industrial production is in red, for the twenty -third month. 2024 ends with a decrease of 3.5% compared to 2023. Two years of apnea. To tow the car and fashion crisis downwards. And also affects the situation of the locomotive of Europe, Germany.
Istat data show a negative 2024 budget with a 3.5% decrease compared to 2023 and a December marked a real collapse: -7.1% on an annual basis and -3.1% compared to November . Such a negative figure had not been observed since the times of the pandemic.
The most affected sectors are the automotive and fashion sectors. The production of vehicles underwent a 43%contraction, thanks to the massive appeal to the layoff by the Stellantis group. The textile-clothing sector recorded a decline above 18%, while metallurgy has undergone a double-digit drop. Machinery and wood-carts have also seen a background of more than 9%. To resist and show growth in the whole of 2024 was only the food sector.
The negative balance is also reflected on the value of production, with an estimated total loss of approximately 42 billion euros for the Italian manufacturing industry. The rate of use of the production capacity dropped under 75%, a level that was not seen from the third quarter of 2020, in full Covid emergency. More than a quarter of companies has reported insufficient question
There is also a slowdown in investments. The production of machinery underwent a flexion of 17.4%, with a loss of over five billion in 2024. Among the main causes there is the wait for transition measures 5.0, which has pushed many companies to postpone investments Waiting for new incentives. Although in recent weeks there has been a shy recovery, with tax credits booked for 384 million euros (only 6% of the total available), the sector continues to be in difficulty.
The weak internal question joined an export not able to compensate. In the first eleven months of 2024, Italian exports recorded a slight decrease, penalized above all by the crisis of Germany, one of the main Italian commercial partners. German imports fell by 2.8% in 2024, with a direct impact of -3.6 billion euros on Italian exports.
For 2025 there is the hope of a recovery thanks to new incentives and the slowdown of Frankfurt’s monetary policy. But the international context and the unknown on internal demand still weak weighs.
