Industrial production increased by 10.4% in the A.C. of the Basque Country in December 2005, with regard to the same month in 2004, in homogeneous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data. The most outstanding contribution to this inter-annual increase in December came from electric energy and transport material. The accumulated growth rate for the whole of 2005, with regard to the year before, was 4.0%.

In December 2005, compared with November, the industrial production of the A.C. of the Basque Country grew 0.8%, once corrected for seasonal effects.

Source: Eustat

Sectorial evolution

By sectors, bearing in mind the classification of large industrial sectors, the evolution of the index presents the following variations in December 2005 with regard to December 2004: the highest inter-annual growth rate corresponds to Energy (21.7%), followed by Capital Goods (12.8%); Consumer Goods obtained 8.7% growth, inter-annual growth for Durable Consumer Goods being 7.2% and 9.4% for Non-Durable Consumer Goods. Intermediate Goods also obtained a positive inter-annual rate of 5.1%.

The inter-monthly variation for December 2005, on November, was different for the different large industrial sectors. There was growth, although to varying extents, in Energy (5.5%), Consumer Goods (1.5%) and Intermediate Goods (0.9%), while Capital Goods decreased by 2.6 %.

Evolution by Province

By province, the inter-annual evolution of the Industrial Production Index in December had presented positive results in all three provinces, increasing 12.3% in Bizkaia, 10.6% in Álava and undergoing an 8.1% rise in Gipuzkoa. Intermonthly growth rates, however, were positive for Bizkaia (2.3%) and Gipuzkoa (0,5%), but fell by 1.3% in Álava.

2005 Balance

The 2005 balance shows a 4.0% accumulated increase in the Industrial Production Index on the year before.

By large industrial sectors, they all, except for Durable Consumer Goods, presented positive variations in the annual accumulated figure. Capital Goods increased by 5.7%, Energy by 3.3%, lntermediate Goods by 2.4% and Consumer Goods, as a whole, by 0.6%. Among the sectors, Non-Durable Consumer Goods grew by 1.1% while Durable Consumer Goods fell by 0.3%, with regard to 2004.

The accumulated variations in 2005 for all theree provinces were positive, with 3,2% growth in Álava, a 4.3% increase in Bizkaia and a 4.0% rise in Guipúzcoa.

(1) Inter-annual variation rate for the accumulated period from January to the last month of year t on the same period of year t-1

Source: Eustat