Industrial prices in the A.C. of the Basque Country registered a fall of 0.5% in November 2004, according to EUSTAT data. The inter-annual rate for November, which records the variation of industrial prices over the last twelve months, showed a 7.0% increase. Additionally, the evolution of industrial prices in the first eleven months of the year, compared to last December, registered a similar increase, 7.1%.

A more detailed analysis by sectors reveals that in November 2004 the most inflationary branches, in relation to the previous month, were “Electric energy, gas and water" (4.0%), "Metal and non-metal minerals" (2.7%), "Paper, printing and graphic arts" (0.5%) and “Metallurgy and metal articles" (0.3%). On the other hand, the sectors to experience the greatest price falls during November, were “Oil refining” (-8.0%), "Leather and footwear industry" (-1.8%), “Food industry” (-0.5%) and "Chemical industry" (-0.5%), among others.

In the inter-annual period, November 2004 compared to 2003, the highest price rises took place in the branches of "Oil refining" (18.2%), "Metallurgy and metal articles" (16.7%), "Metal and non-metal minerals" (12.7%) and "Other manufactured" (3.5%). Conversely, decreases were registered in the prices corresponding to the sectors of "Leather and footwear industry" (-4.3%), "Paper, printing and graphic arts" (-1.4%) and "Timber industry" (-0.3%).

In the new classification of goods according to economic destination, the price evolution of the major sectorial groups followed, in each case, widely differing patterns: there was a fall for Energy (-4.5%), Capital Goods (-0.1%) and Consumer Goods (-0.2%), sub-divided into Consumer Durable Goods (0.0%) and Consumer Non-Durable Goods (-0.3%), whereas Intermediate Goods rose by 0.3%.

The price evolution of these major groups of goods also showed marked differences over the inter-annual period. All of them registered inter-annual increases: prices corresponding to Energy rose 12.2%, those of Intermediate Goods rose 10.8%, those of Capital Goods increased by 1.3% and those corresponding to Consumer Goods increased by 1.6%, with 1.4% growth for Consumer Durable Goods and a 1.7% increase for Consumer Non-Durable Goods.