The industrial districts and the Italian exports

In 1997, the top "Made in Italy" sectors which have their centres of excellence in the Industrial Districts exported goods from the "fashion-furnishings-household-Mediterranean food and precision instruments" sectors worth a total of 130 billion Euro, closing the trade balance with a surplus of around 90 billion Euro. Indeed, exports from the districts easily paid for their own imports of energy and raw materials (equivalent to 35 billion Euro) as well as those of other manufacturing sectors (means of transport, information technology, electronics, chemicals, paper, rubber, cement) and still guaranteed Italy's balance of trading a net total trade surplus of 30 billion Euro.
These figures show the fundamental role played by the "Made in Italy" sectors and the Industrial Districts in Italy's foreign trade. In fact it is calculated that about one third of Italy's entire exports and almost 60% of the exports from the specialised "Made in Italy" sectors come from the districts.

Research carried out jointly by the Università Cattolica and the Ufficio Studi Montedison allows us to appreciate the substantial role played by the Industrial Districts in the Italian economic system, particularly in foreign relations. Even allocating to "Made in Italy" sectors the entire trade deficit for raw materials and energy for the whole of Italy (a deficit which is really to be distributed among other manufacturing sectors, families and public services), this group of characteristic sectors connected to the Industrial Districts shows a net foreign trade surplus of 45 billion Euro, roughly equivalent to that of the whole of Germany. Obviously the real net trade balance of "Made in Italy" sectors is higher, without the simplification above due to the statistical impossibility of calculating the exact amount of raw materials and energy of the various sectors, and can be estimated at at least 55 billion Euro!
Moreover, in the last three years the net trade balance for the "Made in Italy" sectors with non-EU countries (again estimated by default by allocating all raw materials and energy sources imported from outwith the EU) alone represented shares fluctuating between a third and a sixth of the entire trade balance of the European Union with the rest of the world.

The results of the analyses carried out on market shares are even more surprising. Thanks to the performance of these very districts, Italy posts the best trade surplus in the world or is the joint leader in 36 key products in that group of products we have defined as "Made in Italy". In 1996, these products generated a total trading gain of about 55 billion Euro, equivalent to around two thirds of the total Italian trading gain. These 36 "key products" come for the most part from the industrial districts.

Products for which Italy is world leader by trade surplus

• Woollen yarn
• Woollens
• Silks
• Footwear
• Knitwear
• Ties and shawls
• Eyewear
• Goldsmithery, jewellery
• Tanned leathers
• Footwear
• Ornamental stone
• Ceramic tiles
• Seats and divans
• Furniture and kitchens
• Lamps and lighting fixtures
• Taps and fittings, valves
• Heaters
• Refrigerators
• Washing machines
• Pasta

Products for which Italy is second in the world league table by trade surplus

• Leather goods
• Menswear
• Womenswear
• Saucepans and cutlery Wines

Source: M. Fortis, Università Cattolica, Montedison

These same analyses of international trade by product groups show that Italian industrial districts of small and medium-sized enterprises hold shares of world trade in their sectors that are comparable to, if not higher than, those of the large car, chemicals and electronics multinationals.
The Emilian ceramics district and that of women's hosiery in Castel Goffredo, for example, each control around 40% of world exports in their sector. The woollen district of Prato and Biella or the silk district of Como hold shares of world exports in their respective sectors of between 15% and 25%. Similarly, shares of world exports in their sectors in the gold districts of Arezzo and Vicenza, the eyewear district of Belluno, the marble district of Carrara and the packaging machine district along the "Emilian" axis are each in the order of 15%. This figure goes down to 10% for wood machinery in Rimini, for divans in Matera, for furniture in Alto Livenza, for tannery in Arzignano-Vicenza, for marble in Verona, and for taps, fittings and valves in Lumezzane and Novara.
Italian districts' share of world exports of certain products