Despite the simultaneous increase in imports (+ 11.8%), in 2021 the trade balance remained positive for the second year in a row, with a surplus of 3.5 billion euros, after having been in deficit for a long time. . The food industry contributed exclusively to the result, while the agricultural sector worsened its deficit by about 1 billion euros, which reached a value of 8.5 billion euros. Looking at the main destinations of national exports, the EU is confirmed as the most important market for Italian agri-food products, with 29.3 billion euros, corresponding to approximately 56% of the sector’s overall exports (+ 12% on 2020) . More specifically, shipments to Germany (+ 8.2%), the first Italian customer country ever with about 8.5 billion euros in sales, and France (+ 8.4%), which together they absorb 27% of national exports. Also noteworthy is the strong increase in exports to Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium. In the same year, shipments to non-EU countries grew by 11.5%, reaching around 23 billion euros; the most significant increases are observed for China (+ 26.8% for just over 643 million euros) and the USA (+ 14.8% for 5.6 billion euros). The analysis of the data by production sector shows an annual growth of 7.1% for “cereals, rice and derivatives” with 7.8 billion euros in 2021, largely attributable to bakery, pastry and biscuit products. On the contrary, shipments of dry pasta (-6.2% for 2 billion euros) and processed / semi-finished rice (-2.3% for 529 million euros) are selling, after the excellent results of 2020.