The Construction Costs Index of the A.C. of the Basque Country registered a 2.0% rise in January 2004 in relation to the previous month, making the inter-annual rate for the month 1.9%, according to EUSTAT data.

In January 2004 labour costs increased 4.0%, while raw material costs registered a rise of 0.6%.

The sub-sectors of Building and Civil Works registered identical evolutions, growing 0.6% in relation to the previous month in the area of Building, the same as the raw material costs for Civil Works. However, the inter-annual evolution of these two sub-sectors shows differing trends: raw material costs for Building grew 0.7%, while raw material costs for Civil Works accumulated a -0,2% decrease.

In January the greatest price rises were those of raw materials used in Asphalt products (3.3%), Cleaning and hygiene material (2.9%), Mining arids (2.5%), Iron and steel (2.3%) and Explosives and gases (2.2%). Conversely, raw material prices fell in the case of Office material (-2%), Paint and varnish (-0.8%) and Plastic piping and heat insulation (-0.7%).

Among the most inflationary price rates for raw materials consumed by the sector in the last twelve months are: Cleaning and hygiene materials (7.9%), Plaster, lime and gypsum (6.4%), Iron and steel (4.9%), Metal tubing (3.4%) and Mining arids (2.4%). On the other hand, reductions were registered in the inter-annual prices (January 2004 compared to January 2003) for the raw materials of Asphalt products (-10.8%), Oil by-products (-8.9%), Work clothing (-4.4%), Electric energy (-3.8) and Plastic piping and heat insulation (-3.3%).