Press Release 30/09/2009

CONSTRUCTION COSTS INDEX (ICCE) AUGUST 2009

Construction costs in the Basque Country rose 0.4% in August 2009 on the previous month

Over the last twelve months (August 2009 compared to August 2008) building costs fell by 1.1%

The Construction Costs Index rose by 0.4% in the Basque Country in August 2009 with respect to the previous month, which means that the year-on-year rate for that month fell by 1.1%, according to data facilitated by EUSTAT.

In August 2009, labour costs remained unchanged (0.0%), whereas the cost of raw material rose by 0.6%, compared to the previous month.

In August, the month-on-month rates of the Building and Civil Works sub-sectors registered increases in the cost of their raw materials, although of different intensity. Building posted a 0.4% increase on the previous month and Civil Works raw materials rose by 1.3%. There were also differences in the annual evolution of these two sub-sectors, although negative rates were registered in both cases: Building raw material costs fell by 0.9%, whereas those for Civil Works accumulated a 6.7% decrease.



The largest decreases in the prices of the raw materials used by the sector over the last twelve months included Metallurgy (-28.6%), Oil By-products (-25.6%), Electricity and Gas (-13.3%) and the Timber Industry (-5.6%), among others. On the other hand, the greatest rates of inflations in their annual prices (August 2009 on August 2008) were registered by the raw materials of Water (7.4%), Non-metallic Minerals (5.0%), Furniture Manufacturing (1.7%) and Non-metallic Industry (1.6%).

For further information:

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