Who is buying the most Made in Italy around the world

Made in Italy is always in the conversation, and rightly so. Italy’s finest products, exported worldwide, account for around a third of national Gross Domestic Product. 32.2%, to be precise.
In 2025 alone, Italy exported goods worth €643.2 billion: 3.3% more than in 2024. Of this total, Germany was the country that bought the most from us, absorbing 11.2%. It was followed by the United States with 10.8% and France with 10.1%.

These are the three markets that buy the most from Italy by value. But behind them, the ranking is changing fast. A sign of a world in flux, where the balance of power is shifting. And take note: for those leading a company active in international markets, knowing more about this composition matters more than the mere growth of the total. Made in Italy, after all, is bought through different languages of value: heritage, style and desirability in some sectors; technical expertise, manufacturing reliability, certifications and know-how in others.

So let us look together at how this new ranking is made up, how much it has changed over the years, and how brand positioning choices tied to Made in Italy will evolve in the coming years: in other words, what brands will need to make recognisable, to which buyer and with what proof. A brand can be very Italian and still prove of little relevance in the country where it is trying to grow.

Who buys the most, and who is accelerating

Germany remains the leading destination market for Italian exports. The United States, as mentioned, is second and in 2025 increased its purchases from Italy by 7.2%, despite the new tariff environment. France completes the podium and holds a share above 10%.

In the first half of 2026 the picture remains positive: Italian exports grew by 4.5%, reaching €337.2 billion. Among the markets covered by the Export Action Plan, China grew by 19% and India by 4.2%; the United States stayed in positive territory at +2%.

The MAECI Action Plan further widens the map of high-potential markets: Turkey, China, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, India, ASEAN countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, as well as a number of African, Balkan and Latin American markets. The guiding criterion therefore appears to have become diversification. Compared with the past, Italy has steadily broadened its range of strategic partners, perhaps to reduce its dependence on any single country.

April 2026 proved the soundness of this strategy: Italian exports grew by 8.8% year on year, with +12% to non-EU markets and +5.9% to EU markets. In the same month ISTAT reported sharp increases to Switzerland, China and the United States.

Clearly, a single month’s figure cannot tell us whether the strategy has actually succeeded, but it can help us understand where new demand is forming.

Who is buying more Made in Italy, having not bought it before?

Looking only at the top of the ranking, however, risks hiding the most interesting change of all: the make-up of those who, until a few years ago, were not even on the list, but are now climbing fast.

The most striking case is undoubtedly the United Arab Emirates. In 2024, Italian exports to the country reached €7.9 billion: up 19.4% in a single year. In 2025, this growth continued with a further +19.7%. A double acceleration that goes well beyond luxury and fashion, extending to machinery, furniture, food, technology and other Made in Italy sectors.

Even more striking is the trajectory of Saudi Arabia. Italian exports rose from around €4.1 billion in 2022 to €4.9 billion in 2023 and €6.2 billion in 2024. In two years, then, the value grew by more than 50%. The economic transformation linked to Vision 2030 is creating demand in sectors where Italy has particularly marketable expertise: machinery, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, fashion, furniture and renewable energy.

Then there is India, perhaps the market to watch most closely over the medium term. Italian exports exceeded €5.7 billion in 2025, around 30% more than in 2019. In the same year they grew by 9.4%, and in the first half of 2026 they added a further 4.2%. A vast population, an expanding middle class and an increasingly sophisticated industrial base are increasing the number of potential buyers for Italian consumer goods and B2B solutions. Not something to underestimate.

In short, these are markets whose volumes are still far from those of Italy’s major Western partners. Yet the future (especially if China is also taken into account) looks increasingly eastern for Italy. And for a company planning its international expansion, understanding who is starting to buy matters almost as much as knowing who already buys the most.

Made in Italy is bought for different reasons

A handbag, a machine tool, a medicine and a cheese can share the same geographical origin and reach the market with entirely different promises. In one case, aesthetics, heritage, recognisability and status prevail. In another, performance, process, precision, certifications and integration capability come to the fore.

For many industrial companies this also puts B2B marketing at the centre: the international buyer wants to understand applications, compatibility, risk, lead times, support and financial return. Italian origin can strengthen trust when it comes with proof specific enough to support the decision.

Pharmaceuticals is one example. The 28.5% growth recorded in 2025 stems from broader industrial, commercial and international dynamics and takes place in a sector where regulation, investment, quality and specialist expertise raise the barriers. This makes the value harder to imitate through the surface of the brand alone.

The same principle applies to patents, know-how and proprietary technologies. When the competitive edge lies within a technical solution, a strategy on patents and intellectual property can turn that expertise into a more defensible asset in international markets.

Italian sounding: when Italy’s reputation is bought by others

In 2026, a study commissioned by Made in Italy Community from TP Infinity surveyed 1,000 Italian consumers and 800 consumers abroad. In the international sample, 45% said they had bought a falsely Italian product at least once, and 28% said they had preferred it to the original (Made in Italy Day 2026).

It is survey data, so it should be treated with caution. It nonetheless remains an interesting signal: the Italian imagery is strong enough to be imitated and, in some cases, generic enough to allow counterfeits to capture part of the perceived value.

Here brand awareness is only the first level. Being recognised matters; the next step is making the difference between the original and whatever borrows its codes recognisable too. Origin, traceability, process, distribution, service and verifiable characteristics can make that difference easier to read.

The right market depends on the kind of advantage

International growth becomes more orderly when a company separates three questions. Where is there sufficient demand? Where is its advantage understandable? Where does it have the distribution, operational capacity and resources to defend that advantage over time?

Answering them also requires watching competitors. Pricing, partnerships, hiring, distributors, new plants and portfolio moves often reveal, ahead of the annual data, where a market is becoming more attractive. This is the domain of Competitive Intelligence, particularly useful when expansion requires investments that are hard to reverse.

Made in Italy remains a potential advantage. Its value, however, changes from category to category and from market to market. A German machinery buyer, an American fashion consumer and an Asian pharmaceutical partner attach different meanings to the same origin.

The question for leadership is therefore this: which part of Italy is the market we want to win actually buying, and have we built the brand to make it evident?