ROME, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Italian sales abroad grew by 5.1 percent in July compared to the same month of 2016, while imports increased by 10.5 percent, the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) said on Monday.
Outgoing flows towards European Union (EU) countries marked a 6.2 percent rise on the annual basis, while exports outside the EU grew by 3.8 percent, according to the latest data.
On the same trend, incoming flows from EU markets grew by 12.1 percent, and those from non-EU areas by 8.2 percent.
Among the sectors most contributing to the growth of exports were pharmaceuticals (22.8 percent), motor vehicles (14.0 percent), chemical substances and products (7.9 percent), and food products, beverages and tobacco (7.6 percent), ISTAT said.
The trade balance in July totalled a surplus of 6.6 billion euros (7.8 billion U.S. dollars); it had amounted to 7.8 billion euros (9.3 billion U.S. dollars) in July 2016.
The trade balance reached a surplus worth 25.6 billion euros in the first seven months of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016, the agency added.
Seasonally adjusted data also showed Italian imports between May and July 2017 remained flat, while imports grew by 1.0 percent.
