The Fortis-Corradini Index (FCI)—Fondazione Edison

The Fortis-Corradini Index (FCI) of competitive excellences in international trade highlights Italy’s good performance in international trade. According to this index, in 2012 Italy boasted 932 products (out of a total of 5,117 in which international trade is broken down according to the six-digit HS 1996 international classification) in which it was among the first three countries in the world in terms of foreign trade surplus. More specifically, Italy was first for 235 products (with 56 billion dollars of total trade balance for these goods), second for 376 products (68 billion dollars) and third for 321 products (53 billion dollars) for a total value in terms of foreign trade surplus of 177 billion dollars. Furthermore, according to the FCI, out of 4,000 internationally traded, statistically surveyed non-food manufactured items, Italy has over 2,000 with a trade surplus and for 1,235 of those Italy beats Germany, the internationally recognized benchmark, in terms of trade balance.