ROME, May 29 (Reuters) – Italy’s economy grew by 0.3% in the first quarter from the previous three months, boosted by strong exports, national statistics bureau ISTAT said on Friday, revising up a previous printout pointing to a 0.2% expansion.
The main effects of the conflict in Iran, which began with US-Israeli strikes on February 28, are expected to be felt from the second quarter.
Year-on-year, first quarter gross domestic product in the euro zone’s third largest economy increased by 0.8%, above the 0.7% estimate ISTAT made on April 30.
Exports jumped by 2.2% in the first quarter compared with October-December last year, against a 0.7% decline in imports, with net trade contributing 0.9 percentage points from the quarterly growth rate, ISTAT said.
Consumer spending and investments also increased, while the economy was dragged down by a sharp reduction in inventories, which subtracted 1.1 points from growth.
So-called “acquired growth” stood at 0.6% at the end of the first quarter, ISTAT said, meaning that even if GDP is flat in each of the remaining three quarters of 2026, full-year growth will be up 0.6% from 2025.
Giorgia Meloni’s government last month cut its growth outlook to 0.6% for this year and next, reflecting surging energy prices and turmoil in the Middle East, from previous targets of 0.7% and 0.8% respectively.
Italian GDP rose 0.5% in 2025, a third straight year of sub-1% growth.
(Reporting by Antonella Cinelli, graphic by Stefano Bernabei, editing by Gavin Jones)
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