Press Release 22/05/2020

INDUSTRIAL PRICE INDEX. APRIL 2020

Industrial prices of the Basque Country were down 1.2% in April 2020 in respect of the previous month

Compared to April 2019 industrial prices fell by 4.6%

Industrial prices in the Basque Country were down 1.2% in April 2020 in respect of the previous month, according to EUSTAT data. The year-on-year rate for April, which indicates the fluctuation in industrial prices over the last twelve months, stood at -4.6%.

A more detailed analysis reveals that, in April 2020, the most inflationary branches on the previous month were: Extraction Industries with an increase of 1.4% and Water that, together with Chemical Industry, registered an increase of 1.3%. On the other hand, the following sectors recorded the largest month-on-month decreases in prices: Coke plants and Oil Refining, with a fall of 12.7%, Electricity, Gas & Steam, which dropped by 0.9%, and Timber, Paper & Graphic Arts, down 0.7%.

Following the classification of Goods by economic destination, prices of Capital Goods rose by 0.5% compared to the previous month. In contrast, Energy fell by 6.6%; Intermediate Goods were down 0.4%; and Consumer Goods, as a whole, decreased by 0.6%. Within the latter, prices of Consumer Non-Durables were down 0.7%; whilst in Consumer Durables there was a downturn of 0.2%.

In year-on-year terms, April 2020 on April 2019, the greatest increases in prices occurred within the branches of Textile, Garments, Leather & Footwear with a rise of 7.0% and Transport Material and Extraction Industries both with growth of 3.3%. Conversely, the greatest decreases in prices corresponded to the sectors of Coke Plants and Oil Refining, which fell by 37.4%; Timber, Paper & Graphic Arts, which dropped by 3.6%; and Electricity, Gas, Steam & Air Conditioning, down 2.6%.

The price variation of the large goods groups by economic destination was positive over the year-on-year period for Capital Goods and for Consumer Goods as a whole, both with an increase of 1.5%. Among the latter, the prices of Consumer Non-Durables rose by 1.6%, and Consumer Durables were up by 0.8%. By contrast, decreases in prices were seen in the sectors of Energy, down 22.3%, and Intermediate Goods, with a fall of 1.2%.

NOTE REGARDING THE EFFECT OF THE COVID-19 CRISIS ON THE APRIL INDUSTRIAL PRICE INDEX

Royal Decree 463/2020, of 14 March, declared a state of alarm in order to manage the health crisis caused by COVID-19.

The exceptional measures adopted from this point onwards brought the majority of industrial companies to a partial or total standstill during April.

Due to this situation, obtaining the necessary information for compiling the Industrial Production Index required a greater degree of effort, by both the companies surveyed and the personnel dedicated to collecting and processing the information.

Eustat would like to thank all the companies that have collaborated in making this effort despite the extraordinary circumstances. As a result, the April index was calculated with 96.48% coverage of the sample - whose information was collected during May.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62