Foreign orders of industrial products and services were up 16.4 percent in September compared to their level in September 2012 and rose 4.8 percent over the month, the official Istat agency said.
But domestic orders increased just 1.6 percent over the year and were down 0.8 percent from August, it said.
Industrial orders overall were up 7.3 percent year-on-year and 1.6 percent on the month.
Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore business daily said the data "raises optimism for the fourth quarter" when the government is forecasting that the economy will end its long decline and start growing again, albeit gradually.
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