Industrial production fell by 1.4% in the A.C. of the Basque Country in March 2005 in relation to the same month in 2004, in homogeneous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data. As a consequence, in the accumulate figure for the first six months industrial activity fell by 0.5% on the same period the year before.

In March 2005, compared to Feburary the same year, industrial production in the A.C. of the Basque Country fell by 0.2%, once corrected for seasonal effects, reversing the positive trend registered over the previous two months.

Quarterly inter-annual growth of the corrected Industrial Production Index

of the A.C. of the Basque Country

Source: Eustat

Sectorial evolution

By sectors, and based on the classification of large industrial sectors, the evolution of the index in March 2005 with regard to March 2004 only presents growth for Capital Goods (7.6%). Consumer goods fell by 9.0%, giving a 13,3% inter-annual decrease for durable Consumer goods and a 6.8% decrease for non-durable Consumer goods. Both intermediate goods and Energy presented negative inter-annual rates of -1.0% and -14.0%, respectively.

Over the whole of the first quarter of 2005 decreases occurred in all sectors, with the exception of Capital goods, which grew 3%. Consumer goods fell 4.3% while Intermediate goods dropped 0.7% and Energy fell 3.7%, all in relation to the first quarter of 2004.

The month on month variation in March 2005, on February 2005, was positive for Capital goods (3.6%). Consumer goods registered a 1.5% month on month decrease; among these, however, non durable Consumer goods grew 1.0% on the previous month and durable Consumer goods fell by 6.3%. Intermediate goods fell by 0.4% and Energy also fell by 7.1%.

Evolution by Province

By province, the inter-annual evolution of the Industrial Production Index varied, falling 0.6% in Alava and 3.8% in Bizkaia and growing 0.8% in Gipuzkoa. The accumulate figure for the quarter shows Alava fell by 3.2% while Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa maintained positive rates of 0.1% for Bizkaia and 0.6% for Gipuzkoa.

Month on month growth, March 2005 in relation to February the same year, in the provinces also varied, growing 4.4% in Alava and falling 1.8% in Bizkaia and 1.0% in Gipuzkoa.

Table : MARCH 2005. Variation rates (%) of the Industrial Production Index

of the A.C. of the Basque Country

(1) Inter-annual variation rate of the accumulate period from January to the last month of year t in relation to the same period of year t-1

Source: Eustat