Industrial prices increased by 2.0% in the A.C. of the Basque Country in May 2008, according to EUSTAT data. With these data, the year-on-year rate for May, which indicates the fluctuation in industrial prices over the last twelve months, showed growth to be 7.2%

Percentage evolution of the Industrial Price Index of the A.C. of the Basque Country

(*) Year-on-year growth May 2008

Source: EUSTAT

A more detailed sectorial analysis shows that the most inflationary branches in May 2008, with regard to the previous month were “Oil By-products” (11.1%), “”Metallurgy and Metal Articles” (2.7%), “Chemical Industry” (0.9%) and “Timber Industry” (0.7% ), among others. On the other hand, the sectors whose prices fell most or with the smallest increases included “Leather Industry and Footwear” (-1.1%), “Metallic and Non-metallic Minerals” (-0.8%), Transport Equipment” (-0.5% ) and “Electricity, Gas and Water” (-0.3%).

Over the year-on-year period, May 2008 on May 2007, the highest growth in prices was registered by the branches of “Oil By-Products” (34.7%) “"Metal and Non-Metal Minerals (15.7%), “Electricity, Gas and Water” (14.3%), “Other Manufacturers” (7.7%) and “Food Industry”(6.7%) . However, the lowest growth in prices was recorded in the following sectors: “Transport Equipment" (1.1%), Paper, Printing and Graphic Arts" (2.0%), "Machinery” (2.4%) and "Textiles and Garments" D 2.4%).

Following the classification of Goods by economic destination, the prices in the large sectorial groups performed differently in May: The price of Energy rose by 6.2%, Intermediary Goods by 1.9% and the prices of Capital Goods were down by 0.1%. The Consumer Goods overall increased by 0.1%, as the result of the increase in Durable Consumer Goods (0.5%) and the fall in Non-Durable Consumer Goods (-0.1%).

The price evolution of these large groups of goods reveals differences over the year-on-year period. Energy prices increased by 25.6%, Intermediary Goods by 3.6%, Capital Goods were up 2.5% and Consumer Goods registered a 5.0% increase. Among the latter, the prices of Non-Durable Consumer Goods rose 5.8% while Durable Consumer Goods were up by 3.2%.

Source: EUSTAT