Greece faces widening trade deficit with Italy

Greece is experiencing a widening trade deficit with Italy, which remains its primary export destination and second-largest supplier. In 2025, the trade deficit in goods with Italy reached approximately 2.98 billion euros, a 33.61% increase from previous levels. This widening gap is driven by a significant decline in Greek exports to Italy—dropping over 15% to 4.458 billion euros—while imports remained relatively stable at 7.456 billion euros.

A major factor in this shift was the collapse of petroleum product exports, which fell by nearly half. However, non-energy exports showed more resilience. Notable growth was seen in Greek food products, including seafood (+13.26%) and dairy (+24.28%), as well as oils and fats (+4.11%) and aluminum (+3.81%). Conversely, sectors such as machinery, pharmaceuticals, and electrical equipment saw substantial declines.

On a broader national scale, Greek trade data for the first eight months of 2026 indicates a 3.8% reduction in the overall trade deficit compared to the same period in 2025. While August 2026 saw a monthly deficit increase of 3.6%, total exports for the eight-month period rose by 16.5%, reaching 37.109 billion euros, against imports of 58.292 billion euros.