Press Release 02/10/2009

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INDEX (IPI) AUGUST 2009

Industrial activity in the Basque Country fell by 24.3% in August 2009

With respect to the previous month, July 2009, it was down by 1.4%

Industrial production in the Basque Country fell by 24.3% in August 2009 compared to the same month of 2008 in homogenous terms of the working calendar, according to EUSTAT data.

Compared to the previous month, July 2009, industrial production in the Basque Country fell by 1.4%, once seasonal effects had been corrected.

Sector evolution

By sector, and using the major industrial sector classification, the evolution of the index for August 2009 compared to August 2008 showed decreases in all sectors. Capital goods fell by 30.9%, Intermediary Goods by 28.3%, Energy was down by 9.6% and Consumer Goods decreased by 6.7%, mainly as the result of the drop recorded by Consumer Durables (-29.4%), as Consumer Non-Durables fell much more moderately (- 2.7%).



Month-on-month variations in August 2009, compared to July 2009, were negative in all sectors except Energy, which increased by 2.0%. Intermediary Goods fell by 2.2% while Capital Goods decreased by 1.3%. Consumer Goods, as a whole, fell by 3.0%, mainly as the result of the decrease in Consumer Non-Durables (-3.7%), as the drop registered by Consumer Durables was far more moderate (0.1%).

Evolution by province

The pattern of the year-on-year evolution of the Industrial Production Index by province was negative in the three provinces: Álava decreased by 26.7%, Bizkaia by 23.6% and Gipuzkoa was down by 24.2%.

Month-on-month rates, August 2009 compared to July 2009, for the three provinces were also negative: they were down by 2.5% in Álava, by 1.5% in Bizkaia and by 0.8% in Gipuzkoa.

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 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