Press Release 04/06/2009

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INDEX (IPI) APRIL 2009

Industrial activity in the Basque Country fell by 25.0% in April 2009

With respect to the previous month, March 2009, it rose by 0.8%

Industrial production in the Basque Country fell by 25.0% in April 2009 compared to the same month of 2008 in homogenous terms of the working calendar, according to EUSTAT data.

Compared to the previous month, April 2009, industrial production in the Basque Country rose by 0.8%, once seasonal effects had been corrected.

Year-on-year quarterly growth of the corrected Industrial Production Index of the Basque Country

II (*) Corrected inter-annual growth April 2009

Source: EUSTAT

Sector evolution

By sector, and using the classification of the major industrial sectors, the evolution of the index for April 2009 compared to April 2008 showed a downturn in all sectors, except for Energy where there was no variation (0.0%): Intermediate Goods were down by 32.1%, Capital Goods fell by 27.5% and Consumer Goods decreased by 18.3%, due to the fall in the prices of Non-Durable Consumer Goods (-12.8%) and, above all, to the decrease in Durable Consumer Goods (-31.0% ).

Month-on-month variations in April 2009, compared to March 2009, were positive for all the major industrial sectors, except Intermediary Goods, which was down 1.0%. Energy increased by 2.7%, Capital Goods 1.4%, while Consumer Goods were up by 1.1%. Of the two component parts of Consumer Goods, Durable Consumer Goods experienced a 2.5% month-on-month rise, while Non-Durable Consumer Goods increased by 0.6%.



Evolution by province

The pattern of the year-on-year evolution of the Industrial Production Index by province was negative in the three provinces: it was down by 34.4% in Álava, by 19.4% in Bizkaia and by 25.8% in Gipuzkoa.

The month-on-month growth rate, April 2009 compared to March 2009, there was a 2.1% downturn in Álava, while they increased by 2.1% and 0.8% in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, respectively.

Table: APRIL 2009. Variation rates (%) of the Industrial Production Index of the Basque Country.

(1) Year-on-year variation rate of the accumulated period from January to the last month of year t compared to the same period of the year t-1

Source: EUSTAT

For further information:

Basque Statistics Office C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Tel.: +34-945-01 75 00 Fax: +34-945-01 75 01 E-mail: eustat@eustat.es Contact: Gerardo Pérez Aja Tel:+34-945-01 75 06 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01 Online press releases: www.eustat.es Databank: www.eustat.eus/bancopx/english/indice.aspx