Press Release 13/02/2014
The GDP of the Basque Country registered 0.3% quarter-on-quarter growth in the fourth quarter of 2013
The balance for 2013 closed with a 1.2% contraction of GDP
In the fourth quarter of 2013, the GDP of the Basque Country registered a positive quarter-on-quarter variation of 0.3%, an improvement of three tenths of a percentage point on the previous quarter, according to data drawn up by EUSTAT. This variation was identical to that registered by the Spanish economy, which improved by two tenths of a percentage point in accordance with the advanced estimation prepared by the INE [Spanish National Statistics Institute].
With respect to the same quarter of the previous year, GDP in the Basque Country fell by 0.3%. This year-on-year decrease was two tenths higher than that registered by the Spanish economy (-0.1%).
From the point of view of supply, the year-on-year decrease in GDP is the result of the downward trend of three of the four large activity sectors. Both the primary and services sectors and, above all, the construction sector saw a downturn in their levels of activity, although in the case of the latter two, the downturn was less than in previous quarters. The industrial sector managed to maintain the same level as the previous year, for the first time following a decline in eight successive quarters.
The Primary sector registered a year-on-year fall of 12.9%, which, in turn, led to quarter-on-quarter growth of 16.3%.
In this fourth quarter, the Industry sector had a zero growth rate (0.0%), which meant an improvement of one point nine percent with respect to the year-on-year rate of the third quarter. This figure for year-on-year performance corresponds to a growth of one tenth in quarter-on-quarter terms; it is the third consecutive quarter in which the industrial sector has achieved a positive quarter-on-quarter variation (0.1%). Specifically, it was the manufacturing industry that obtained both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter positive variations.
The Construction sector slowed down its contraction in year-on-year terms with a fall of 1.2%, four percentage points less negative than the previous quarter. Growth with respect to the previous quarter stood at 4.5%, compared to a 0.2% drop in the third quarter.
Global activity within the Services sector recorded a descent in both year-on-year terms and quarter-on-quarter terms: 0.1% and 0.3% respectively.
The year-on-year fall of one-tenth in services is the result of different trends within its sub-sectors; both the Trade, Hotel Management & Catering and Transport sector and the so-called Other Services - including, among other things, professional activities, finance and security - registered negative variations of 0.6% and 0.4% respectively. However, the branch that includes Public Administration, Education, Health and Social Services, grew by 0.9%.
Regarding quarter-on-quarter variation, the positive growth of 0.5% of Trade, Hotel Management & Catering and Transport is noteworthy, with its implications for the evolution of household consumption. Similarly, Other Services also registered a positive evolution of 0.3%. Services linked to Public Administration, Education, Health and Social Services registered a quarter-on-quarter drop of 2.4%.
The aggregated performance by sector has given rise to a negative evolution of Added Value of -0.3% in year-on-year terms, although this fall is eight tenths lower than the fall in rate registered in the previous quarter. This moderation in the year-on-year downward trend produced a positive growth of 0.3% with respect to the previous quarter, something not seen in the nine previous quarters.
From the point of view of Demand, there was as in the previous quarter, though much more moderately, a combination of a negative evolution of Internal Demand and a positive contribution of the foreign sector to GDP growth. The year-on-year evolutions of exportation levels and the importation of goods and services proved positive, although more moderate than those seen in the previous quarter.
Household Final Consumption Expenditure (Private Consumption) was down in year-on-year terms by 0.1%, a fall which was one point two percent lower than that of the previous quarter. In relation the the third quarter of the year, there was a positive variation in private consumption of 0.4%.
Public Consumption (Final Consumption Expenditure of Public Administrations) continues to maintain negative variations, somewhat more significant than those in the third quarter. The year-on-year rate fell by 2.3%, whilst the quarter-on-quarter rate fell by 1.9%.
The overall performance of the Final Consumption Expenditure of Public Administrations combined with the Final Consumption Expenditure of Households led to a drop of 0.6% in Final Consumption Expenditure. With regards to the previous quarter there was a fall of 0.1%.
Gross Capital Formation (Investment) again decreased in year-on-year terms (-0.3%), although the rate of descent was more restrained than in the previous quarter (-3.8%). This moderation in the rate of the year-on-year fall gives rise, for the second consecutive quarter, to a quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.7%. The year-on-year rate of Gross Capital Formation linked to Capital Goods had a positive evolution of 0.1%, an improvement of nine tenths in relation to the year-on-year figure of the previous quarter. The rest of investment, linked to construction, posted a negative year-on-year rate (-0.5%), four point six percentage points less negative than the previous quarter (-5.1%). This meant that quarter-on-quarter growth stood at 1.7%.
Internal Demand, composed of Final Consumption Expenditure and Gross Capital Formation, once again registered a negative variation (0.5%) with respect to the same quarter of the previous year, although the rate of contraction was one point three percent lower.
The contribution of the Foreign Sector to GDP evolution was again positive. The comparatively better evolution of the foreign balance in relation to the evolution of internal demand occurs with year-on-year positive performance of 3.1% within exports of goods and services, compared to growth in imports of 2.7%.
The evolution of the GDP generated a new year-on-year drop in the employment level, measured in Full-Time Equivalent Jobs. The fall in employment in year-on-year terms was recorded as 1.0%, producing a growth of 0.1% in quarter-on-quarter terms.
Employment levels performed negatively in relation to the same quarter of the previous year in all sectors of activity except for Services. The greatest year-on-year decrease occurred once again in Construction, which fell by 6.6%, followed by Industry (-2.9%) and the Primary sector (-1.0%). The Services sector grew at a rate of 0.2%. In quarter-on-quarter terms, both the Primary sector and Industry showed negative evolutions of -3.7% and -0.1%, while Construction grew (+1.6%) and Services remained stable.
Regarding the evolution of GDP by Province, in year-on-year terms Bizkaia showed the largest drop, of 0.5%, followed by Álava with 0.4%, while Gipuzkoa maintained its level of GDP with a zero growth rate (0.0%). In quarter-on-quarter terms Álava was up by 0.5%, Gipuzkoa by 0.3% and Bizkaia by 0.1%.
In 2013 as a whole, GDP fell by 1.2%, with a drop in the level of employment of 2.1%
The GDP of the Basque economy fell by 1.2% in 2013, dragged down by the four large sectors that saw a reduction in their activity levels. The Primary sector posted a negative variation of 6.1%. In second place was the Construction sector, which contracted by 5.0%. The industrial sector also showed another negative performance, although more moderate than in the previous year, with a drop of 1.9% in its added value, determined to a large extent by the weight of the manufacturing industry.
There was also a drop in the activity level of the services sector, with this downturn standing at 0.6%. This drop originated in the negative performance of the Trade, Hotel Management & Catering and Transport sector, which was down 1.4%, together with negative evolution of the branch including Public Administration, Education and Health, which went from 0.4% growth in 2012 to negative growth (-0.3%) in 2013. The levels of activity of Other Services were also down (-0.2%).
The effect of net taxes on products throughout the whole of 2013 was negative, with a drop of 0.7%.
The analysis in terms of demand showed a contraction of Internal Demand of 1.5%, against a year-on-year fall of 1.2 in GDP, with a positive contribution from the foreign balance for 2013 as a whole.
The fall in Household Final Consumption Expenditure (-1.0%) and the contraction of Public Administrations Final Consumption Expenditure (-1.3%) meant a decrease in Final Consumption of 1.0%. Gross Capital Formation, due to the negative performance of its two components, showed the most negative profile in terms of Internal Demand, with a downturn of 3.2% for the whole of 2013.
Employment evolution, measured in full-time equivalent jobs, was negative, with an estimated decrease of 2.1% as an average of 2013, with more than 19,000 net jobs lost. The fall in the level of employment was common to all sectors, although less pronounced in the Services sector (-0.5%). Both the Primary sector (-3.7%) and Industry (-4,3%) and, above all, Construction (-10.8%) saw their level of employment fall in relation to the figures for 2012.
The evolution of GDP by Province in 2013 was negative in the three provinces, although more moderate than in the previous year. Álava is the province that showed the greatest drop (-1.4%), while Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa registered a drop of 1.1% in both cases.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tlf: 945 01 75 62
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