After a turbulent 2024, Italian manufacturers of machine tools, robots, and automation systems entered 2025 with high hopes of recovery — but what they actually experienced was a year of stagnation. Production grew only moderately, hampered by a sharp downturn in exports that was not offset by the weak rebound in domestic market activity.
Looking ahead, 2026 promises improvement, but forecasts remain cautious given the highly unstable global context. These insights come from the preliminary figures for 2025 and projections for 2026 released by the Studies Department and Business Culture Centre of
Ucimu-Sistemi Per Produrre.
In 2025, production reached 6,420 million euros, marking a modest 1.5% increase over the previous year. However, exports told a different story, they fell dramatically to 3,710 million euros, down 13.2% compared to 2024, as nearly all major markets for Italian-made products in this sector posted negative performances — a clear reflection of the challenging international environment. Ucimu’s analysis of ISTAT data for January to August 2025 shows the main destination markets for Italian machine tools were the USA (423 million, euros -8.1%), Germany (196 million euros, -29.7%), France (145 million euros, -0.5%), India (135 million euros, -4.2%), and Poland (135 million euros, +13.3%).
On the domestic front, consumption rose by 20.5% to 4,465 million euros, driving deliveries from Italian manufacturers to 2,710 million euros — a 32% increase over the previous year. Despite these gains, results remain far below the highs of previous years. The export-to-production ratio continued its downward trend, settling at 57.8%. Forecasts for 2026 suggest a moderate rise in key indicators. Production is expected to reach 6,590 million euros, up 2.6% from 2025.
Positive territoryExports are expected to return to positive territory with a slight 0.7% increase to 3,735 million euros, while domestic deliveries are projected to climb 5.4% to 2,855 million euros, supported by stronger local demand. Italian consumption of machine tools, robots, and automation is forecast to grow by 5.9% to 4,730 million euros, with imports rising 6.8% to 1,875 million euros. The export-to-production ratio is expected to decline further to 56.7%.
Ucimu’s president Riccardo Rosa said: “After a really complicated 2024, 2025 was confirmed as the year of trend reversal, with a change from negative to growth, however very modest, recorded in the production figure. Actually, we did not expect it could be exports to weigh down the final outcome, as they did. The international geopolitical instability, the ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, President Trump’s tariff war and the consequent new (dis)order of international trade put our exports under severe strain.”
Mr Rosa noted: “The performance achieved by Italian machine tool manufacturers on the domestic market was better than expected, but however, they recovered only a small portion of the ground lost in the previous two years. This was due to the critical issues related to Transition 5.0, which started to be operational after an unforgivable delay, underwent several adjustments, becoming easy to use only in its final months of operation, then suddenly closing more than a month before the deadline set for 31 December.”
Despite these challenges, Mr Rosa emphasised the importance of incentives: “The results obtained have demonstrated the usefulness of 5.0, obviously in addition to 4.0, as a measure aimed at supporting investments in new production technologies in Italy.”
He expressed hope that new government measures would be “easy to use and quick to implement. We Italian machine tool manufacturers simply ask for clarity and immediacy. In order to work, the measure must involve little bureaucracy and must be issued and made available from the first weeks of the new year.” Mr Rosa welcomed the Italian government’s recent announcement of a multi-year duration for incentives: “Having a measure available from the beginning of 2026 to 2028 is certainly a wise choice, allowing customers to plan their purchases, as well as manufacturers to organise their production.”
Automotive crisisTurning to international trade, Mr Rosa warned: “The weakening of some markets, starting with Germany, which has been overwhelmed by the automotive crisis — the difficulty of sales in the USA, our primary export market, due to tariffs, and the closure of certain areas particularly rich in opportunities, such as Russia, require even more intense work to develop commercial relations with traditional areas and with ‘alternative’ areas, including the countries of the Mercosur region (South America).”
He criticised Italy’s hesitation on the EU-Mercosur Agreement: “Back-tracking now, at a particularly delicate moment for international trade, would be a serious mistake.” Ucimu has intensified its initiatives in Latin America, including exploratory missions in Brazil and discussions with industrial organizations in Argentina. Mr Rosa highlighted plans for a Technology Centre in Chile and efforts in Mexico through the Oficina Italiana de Promotiòn Mexico, which supports Italian companies in penetrating Central and North American markets.
Asia remains a priority, with India and Southeast Asia showing strong growth and openness to Italian technology. Ucimu continues to support activities such as Desk India, ITC India Network, and IMT Vietnam Network. In Europe, Rosa expressed hope that the EU will adjust its approach to ‘green mobility’ to avoid industrial decline.