Construction index costs in the A.C. of the Basque Country registered a 0.1% increase in October 2006 with regard to the previous month, by which the inter-annual rate for the month came to 4.8%, according to EUSTAT data. The increase in relation to the previous December was also 5.4%.

Changes in the inter-annual rate, 1997-2006

(*) Corresponds to October inter-annual rate

Source: EUSTAT

In October 2006 labour costs did not vary at all (0.0%), while raw material costs increased by 0.1%.

The subsectors Building and Civil Works registered differing evolutions, with 0.1% growth in relation to the previous month for both Building and raw material costs for Civil Works. The inter-annual evolution of these two subsectors shows that they followed differing trends: raw material costs for Building grew by 4.8%, while raw materials for Civil Works increased by 3.2%.

In October the highest growth in prices corresponded to raw materials consumed by Electric energy (1.5%), Iron and Steel (0.9%),Glass (0.8%) and Artificial Cement (0.6%) among others. On the other hand, prices of raw materials fell for Lime, gypsum and plaster (-3.0%), Oil by-products (-2.2%), Asphalt products (2.0%), and Explosives and gases (0.8%), among others.

Among the prices of the most relevant raw materials consumed by the sector that have risen most in price over the whole of the last twelve months are Electric energy (25.8%), Iron and steel (16.6%), Glass (9.2%), Metal piping (8.9%) and Explosives and gases (5.1%) In addition there were reductions or lower increases in inter-annual prices (October 2006 on October 2005) of the raw materials for Oil by-products (9.5%). Lime, gypsum and plaster (-2.2%), Ceramic products (0.1%), Worked stone (0.0%), Electric material and appliances (0.0%) and Timber and cork (1.0%).

Construction costs index A.C. of Euskadi / Data summary. October 2006

Source: EUSTAT