The Construction Costs Index rose 0.1% in the A.C. of the Basque Country in August 2003 with regard to the previous month, which means the inter-annual rate for the same month came to 3.2%, according to EUSTAT data. The rate for the first eight months of the year, compared with last December, registered a 3.0% increase.

Over the inter-annual period (August 2003 in relation with August 2002) labour costs increased 5.8%, while the cost of raw materials increased 1.3%.

The 0.1% increase in total construction costs in August 2003 had differing contributions from the two main subsectors: Building costs remained unvaried (0.0%) with regard to the previous month; while Civil Works costs registered 0.2% growth with regard to last July. These two subsectors also grew slightly differently in the inter-annual evolution: Building costs rose 3.1%, while Civil Works costs increased by 3.2%.

Among the most inflationary raw material prices in August 2003 were: Oil by-products (3.0%), Electric energy (2.3%), Asphalt products (1.7%) and Artificial Cement (0.7%). Average monthly prices fell, however, for the raw materials used in Plastic Piping (-1.6%), Metal Piping (-0.7%), Baked earth (-0.3%) and Mining Arids (-0,2%), among others.