The return of foreign tourists to Italy, after the blockade due to the Covid pandemic, has given relief to the Italian economy and balance of payments, severely tested by the jump in energy costs. In June-August, foreign travelers returned en masse and thanks to arrivals from the United States and Asia, which filled the absences from the East, their spending increased by 80% compared to the same period in 2021. A flow fostered by the exceptionally favorable climate also in September and October, whose beneficial effect, reported by ISTAT on the national GDP of the third quarter, is a result higher than expected with an increase of 0.5% on a quarterly basis. Italy's balance of payments for tourism thus recorded a surplus of 2.6 billion euros in August. Tourism revenues (amounting to 6.3 billion) increased by about 35%. Despite this, in the twelve months ending in August 2022, according to data from the Bank of Italy, the current account balance was in deficit for 1.9 billion euros (-0.1% of GDP), from a surplus of 76.3 billion in the same period of the previous year. The decline was caused almost entirely by the sharp worsening of the trade balance (from 72.7 to -3.2 billion), which continues to be affected by the higher energy deficit.
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