The Forecasts for 2024

Based on the forecasts made by the Economic Studies Department & Business Culture Centre of UCIMU, the year 2024 will show a slight contraction for the Italian machine tool, robot and automation industry, whose performance will nevertheless remain at medium-high levels. The moderate decline recorded by all major economic indicators should be counterbalanced by the growth of exports, which should set a new record.

Production should reach 7,450 million euro (-2.2%). Exports, still expected to grow (+3%), should achieve a new record of 4,350 million euro.

The worst trend will be that of domestic deliveries (-8.6%), which should stop at 3,100 million euro, penalised by the reduction in domestic consumption, (-7.1%) falling to 5,405 million euro. Imports should also record a downturn, standing at 2,305 million euro (-4.9%).

On the other hand, in the first half year, the order collection of Italian manufacturers marked time. In the first six months of 2024, the UCIMU index went down by 17.3% compared to the same period of the previous year: -18.7% domestic orders; -16.2% foreign orders. This lacklustre outcome was mainly due to the general conditions of instability in Italy and worldwide.