Italy: Industrial production stable before the war in the Middle East

Industrial production in Italy remained stable in February, before the start of the Middle East war, the National Institute of Statistics (Istat) reported on Friday.

After a decrease in January, production only increased by 0.1% month-on-month in February, and by 0.5% year-on-year.

The growth in capital goods production more than offset the decline in consumer goods and energy production, according to Istat.

Specifically, the increase in the production of transport, electronic products, and machinery (compared to February 2025) was partially offset by a decrease in chemicals and refined petroleum products.

The February figure “comes in a context where the Italian economy, although not particularly robust and with strong disparities between productive sectors, showed signs of improvement – at least until the beginning of this newest conflict,” commented the research office of the business union Confcommercio.

However, “to this day, industrial activity remains significantly below the levels reached in the previous decade,” according to the same source.

In 2025, Italian industrial production had decreased by 0.2%, limiting the damage after a sharp 3.5% drop in 2024.

The most significant production declines were in the textile, clothing, leather, and accessories industries (-5.5% year-on-year), as well as in transport manufacturing (-4.7%), with local champion Stellantis significantly slowing down during the year.

Production, however, held up thanks to the pharmaceutical (+3.8%) and food (+1.6%) industries, other sectors besides fashion that make Italy a major exporting country.