Italian industrial output falls in June as vehicle manufacturing accelerates
Italy’s industrial production fell 1% month on month and 0.6% year on year in June, missing analysts’ expectations. Automotive manufacturing diverged sharply, rising 22.7% in the first half and 10.5% year on year in June.
June output misses expectations
Italy’s industrial production declined in June even as automotive manufacturing recorded a strong recovery. Calendar-adjusted data from Istat showed that total industrial output fell 1% from May and 0.6% from June 2025, according to Il Messaggero.
The monthly result was weaker than analysts had expected. Their forecasts had pointed to a 0.3% increase. June’s decline followed another negative monthly reading in May, indicating that the improvement in Italian manufacturing remains uneven.
The broader period was more positive. Industrial production increased 0.4% in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter. Output in the first half was 0.5% higher than in the same period of 2025, an increase that Istat described as modest.
Automotive sector breaks with the wider trend
Transport equipment provided a major contribution to the first-half increase. Production in the sector rose 10%, delivering its strongest first-half performance in three years. Il Messaggero noted that a better result was last recorded in the first half of 2023.
The expansion interrupted a downturn that began in 2024, after which every half-year period had ended with lower transport equipment output. Motor vehicle manufacturing recovered even faster: production rose 22.7% in the first half and increased 10.5% in June from a year earlier.
Transport equipment was one of the few manufacturing segments to expand in June, recording year-on-year growth of 3.2%. Computer, electronics and optical products, pharmaceuticals and food manufacturing also increased, while energy supply was the only broad sector to grow both month on month and year on year.
Consumer industries remain under pressure
Weakness was concentrated in several consumer-facing industries. Textiles, clothing, leather and accessories recorded the largest sectoral decline, with production falling 7.1%. Among the main industrial groupings, consumer goods contracted particularly sharply, while durable consumer goods output was 10.7% below its 2025 level.
Il Messaggero linked the decline in durable goods to weak household demand amid higher costs associated with the Hormuz crisis, including diesel and utility bills. CNA, the confederation representing artisans and small and medium-sized businesses, said the figures confirm that Italian manufacturing has not yet entered a stable growth path. It argued that the 1% monthly decline, spread across almost all major industrial groupings, had interrupted the moderately positive signals seen in previous months. The organization called for simple measures and procedures in the next budget law to support investment by small companies.