Italy first quarter growth revised up as exports shine

ROME - 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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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 3:53 AM.