Those of the euro area countries continued to rise, although this was largely due to France and Germany, which recorded annualised increases of respectively 3.4 and 2.8% compared with the second half of 1997. In Italy, the volume of exports contracted in late 1997 and the first few months of 1998, followed by a temporary recovery.
The trend at the end of the year appears to have been downward again. Imports did not decline until the second half of the year; prices fell significantly. The surplus on the current account of the balance of payments was to 2.2% of GDP, as against 3.2% in 1997. The recovery in investment that had begun in spring 1997 faltered in 1998.