(Reuters) – Italy posted a trade surplus with the rest of the world of 7.542 billion euros ($8.30 billion) in March, the largest surplus since July 2021, data showed on Tuesday.

That compared with a deficit of 757 million euros in the same month of 2022.

Exports rose 4.7% year-on-year, while imports fell 9.8%, European statistics office Eurostat data showed.

Trade data has a significant seasonal component and there has not been a larger Italian surplus in the month of March since the introduction of the euro in 1999, the Eurostat figures showed.

With European Union countries, Italy registered a March trade deficit of 916 million euros, compared with a deficit of 36 million euros in March 2022, Eurostat reported.

Exports to EU nations in March were up 3.0% year-on-year, compared to a rise of 6.1% in imports.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)