Machine tool production in Italy grew by 4.6 percent in 2014 over 2013, according to UCIMU.

The increase confirms the change in direction with respect to recent years, and is based principally on a jump in domestic sales.

The data prepared by the UCIMU Business Study and Culture Center in anticipation of the end of the year shows total production at 4.695 billion Euros (5.8268 billion U.S. dollars).

Exports decreased slightly (-0.7 percent) to 3.36 billion euros, while domestic production jumped by 18.2 percent to 2.42 billion euros, indicating the beginning of a recovery in Italian manufacturing.

UCIMU attributes the decrease in exports to "the general reduction of global trade, and in particular, the European Union's decision to limit the export of machine tools to Russia following the tensions between the Federation and Ukraine."

The complete data for the first nine months of the year show drops in exports to large countries such as China (-18.6 percent), Russia (-16 percent) and India (-35.2 percent), with volumes essentially stable towards Germany and France, and increases towards Poland (+17.1 percent) and Mexico (+11 percent).

Growth is expected to continue in 2015, in line with most models predicting the start of an economic recovery.