Industrial production in the A.C. of the Basque Country grew by 5.4% in December 2006 with regard to the same month in 2005, in homogenous terms of the working calendar, according to EUSTAT data. Over the whole of 2006 accumulated growth was 4.1% with regard to the year before.

In December 2006, compared to November 2006, industrial production in the A.C. of the Basque Country grew by 2.8%, once corrected for seasonal effects.

Quarterly inter-annual growth of the corrected Industrial Production Index of the A.C. of the Basque Country

Source: Eustat

By sectors, bearing in mind the classification of large industrial sectors, the evolution of the index in December 2006 with regard to December 2005 presents the following variations in growth: the highest inter-annual growth corresponded to Capital goods (13.0%), Intermediate goods grew by 7.2% and Consumer Goods rose by 1.2%, the inter-annual growth of Durable Consumer Goods being 6.6%, while Non-durable Consumer goods fell by 1.5% and Energy registered a negative inter-annual variation of 10.2%.

The inter-monthly variation for December 2006 on November 2006 was positive for all the main industrial sectors. There was growth, of differing levels, in all of them: Energy decreased by 4.0%, Capital goods rose by 1.9%, Intermediate goods rose by 1.4%, while Consumer Goods increased by 5.7% due to the increases registered by Durable Consumer Goods (5.9%) and Non-durable Consumer Goods (5.6%).

By provinces, the inter-annual evolutions of the Industrial production index in December presented positive results in all three provinces: rising in Gipuzkoa by 11.4%, increasing in Bizkaia by 3.0% and rising in Álava by 0.4%. The inter-monthly provincial rates were also positive for all three provinces: there was a 3.7% rise in Gipuzkoa, a 2.5% increase in Álava and a 2.2% increase in Bizkaia.

Balance of industrial activity in 2006

The balance for 2006 in the A.C. of the Basque Country was a 4.1% accumulated increase in the Industrial Production Index, a similar rate to the previous year (4.0%).

The main industrial sectors presented differing variations in the annual accumulated figure. Capital Goods grew by 8.0%, Energy by 5.1% and Intermediate Goods rose 2.5%. Consumer Goods, as a group, fell by 1.3%. Among them, the increase in Durable Consumer Goods was 0.3%, while Non-Durable Consumer Goods fell by 2.1%, all with regard to 2005.

Accumulated variations in 2006 for the three provinces were positive in all three cases, with 5.3% growth in Gipuzkoa, a 4.3% increase in Bizkaia and a 1.6% rise in Álava.

Table: DECEMBER 2006. Variation rates (%) in the Industrial Production Index of the A.C. of the Basque Country

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

Source: Eustat