Never waste a good crisis: 23 thousand new firms have opened up to international markets from 2009 to date. This virtuous trend has been followed from North to South: up to 29% increase in exporting firms in Lombardy and Trentino, over a 40% increase in Sicily and Calabria. The macroeconomic outcome is a growing contribution to growth of the international component, with exports that presently account for over 31% of GDP.

Is the glass half-full or half-empty? Comparing the Italian performance with the main European benchmark, we find an unexpressed potential for Italy.

Although internationally active SMEs have become increasingly relevant, the ratio of exporting firms in Italy (exporting firms / total number of active firms) is half the German one and inferior to the Spanish one. This lower internationalization rate results in a smaller contribution towards Export/GDP ratio, creating a gap of 17 percentage points with respect to Germany, and 2 points with respect to Spain.