2023, an overall positive year for the italian machine tool manufacturing industry 2024 will be stable

2023 has been another positive year for the Italian manufacturing industry of machine tools, robots and automation systems, which has achieved a new production record, thus extending the favourable trend that should also be confirmed in 2024. 

This is in short what was outlined by Barbara Colombo, president of UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, the Italian machine tools, robots and automation systems manufacturers' association, during the usual year-end press conference.

Based on the preliminary year’s data processed by the Studies Dept. & Business Culture of UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, in 2023 production reached 7,560 million euro, marking a 3.8% increase over the previous year. 

The result was driven by the good performance of exports, which grew by 10.3% to 3,825 million euro. The export/production figure went up again, attaining 50.6%. 

On the foreign front, according to UCIMU processing of the data from the Italian National Statistics Institute (ISTAT), in the period January-August 2023 (latest available data), the main destination markets for the Italian product offering of the sector were the United States (356 million euro, +26.7%), Germany (217 million euro, +8.8%), China (163 million euro, +34%), France (138 million euro, +32.1%) and Poland (128 million euro, +14.7%). 

On the other hand, the deliveries by Italian manufacturers in the domestic market decreased slightly to 3,735 million euro, 2% less than in 2022.

Deliveries and imports – the latter down by 4.5% to 2,385 million euro – were affected by the decrease, however slight, in consumption, which dropped by 3% to 6,120 million euro. 

For 2024, Italian machine tool, robot and automation manufacturers expect a consolidation of the results achieved in recent years: production should be driven by foreign demand, whereas a moderate reduction should be recorded in domestic consumption.

In particular, according to the forecasts carried out by the Studies Dept. & Business Culture Centre of UCIMU, in 2024, production should grow to 7,595 million euro (+0.5% compared to 2023), thanks to the rise in exports, which should stand at 4,070 million euro (+6.4%).

Deliveries by manufacturers to the domestic market should not exceed 3,525 million euro (-5.6%), in line with the drop in domestic consumption, which should reach 5,780 million euro (-5.6%). 

Imports should also be affected by the reduced demand for investments in Italy, falling by 5.5% to 2,255 million euro.

The export/production figure should rise again, standing at 53.6%.