Italy's exports and imports increased in July, the country's National Statistics Institute reported Thursday, the first time both indicators improved in the same month since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The institute, best known as ISTAT, reported that compared to the previous month exports increased by 5.7 percent in July while imports grew by 4.8 percent.

Overall, the increase in exports was driven by markets outside the European Union, which grew by 7.6 percent, compared to a 3.9-percent increase in exports to members of the 27-nation European bloc.

For the year through July, exports were still down by about 14 percent compared to the first seven months of 2019.

In July, exports to China were among the few bright spots for the export sector, climbing 14 percent as trade with most other major trading partners shrank compared to the same month in 2019. Enditem