The construction costs index in the A.C. of the Basque Country did not vary (0.0%) in August 2005 with regard to the previous month, by which the inter-annual rate for the month came to 4.1%, according to EUSTAT data.

In August 2005, labour costs did not vary at all (0.0%), while raw material costs registered a 0.1increase %.

The subsectors Building and Civil Works registered slightly different trends. The index for Building did not vary with regard to the previous month (0.0%), while Civil Works saw a 0.2% increase in raw material costs with regard to the pevious month. The inter-annual evolution of these two subsectors shows that both followed similar trends: raw material costs for Building rose 3.9% and Civil Works costs grew 4.1%.

In August the highest growth in prices corresponded to raw materials consumed by Electric energy (6.6%), Asphalt products (4.9%), Oil by-products (3.9%), Lime, gypsum and plaster (2.6%), and Oil and grease (2.6%), among others. By contrast, there was a fall in the prices of raw maerials for Glass (-2.7%), Metal piping (-1.3%), Iron and steel (-0.9%), Lime, gypsum and plaster (-0.6%) and Artificial concrete (-0.3%), among others.

Among the prices of raw materials consumed by the sector that experienced the highest inflation rates over the whole of the twelve months were: Asphalt products (27.1%), Oil by-products (26.7%), Worked stone (11.8%), Explosives and gases (10.7%) and Iron and steel (8.4%). In addition, there were reductions in inter-annual prices of raw materials for Glass (-3.4%), Office material (-3.1%), Lime, gypsum and plaster (-2.7%), Metal structures and boilermaking (-2.0%) and Wood and cork (-1.4%).