ROME, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Italy's trade with countries outside the European Union (EU) significantly increased in May year-on-year, the country's National Institute of Statistics (Istat) said on Friday.

Istat said the 43.9 percent increase in exports and 55.0 percent increase in imports were mostly attributable to the dramatic decrease registered in May 2020, during the national and global economic slowdown sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the country's non-EU trade figures still showed positive trends independent of the comparison period, Istat said.

During the economic quarter ending in May, exports increased by 6.1 percent and imports by 13.9 percent compared to the previous three-month period. Those gains came despite what Istat called "cyclical declines" of 4.1 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, in May compared to April.

The most important sectors for both indicators were energy and energy-related products, which saw exports rise by 46.4 percent in the quarter ending in May, while imports of energy and energy-related products grew by 37.6 percent.

The same sectors saw the biggest year-on-year growth in May, with exports showing what Istat called "exceptional" gains of 229.4 percent. Exports of consumer goods, up 113.3 percent, and capital goods, up 56.5 percent, also saw dramatic increases compared to a year earlier.

With those increases, Italy's overall trade surplus was 4.77 billion euros (5.69 billion U.S. dollars) in May, up from 4.11 billion euros a year earlier.

In May, Italy's exports to all its main non-EU trading partners increased significantly year-on-year: to China by 55.2 percent, to the United States by 43.0 percent and to the United Kingdom by 42.0 percent. (1 euro = 1.19 U.S. dollar)