Press release dated 26/04/2011

CONSTRUCTION COSTS INDEX OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY (ICCE) MARCH 2011

Construction costs in the Basque Country rose by 0.3% in March 2011 on the previous month

Over the last twelve months (March 2011 compared to March 2010) building costs registered a 1.1% increase

Construction Costs in the Basque Country rose by 0.3% in March 2011 with respect to the previous month, which meant that the year-on-year rate for that month was up by 1.1%, according to EUSTAT data.

With respect to the previous month, labour costs remained unchanged (0.0%) in March 2011, whereas raw material costs rose by 0.5%.

The Building and Civil Works sub-sectors saw their raw material rise in price in March although to different intensity, with a 0.1% increase in Building costs compared to the previous month and 1.6% in the case of Civil Works. A similar, but sharper trend happened in the year-on-year performance of these two sub-sectors: the costs of Building raw material costs rose by 0.1%, whereas Civil Works posted a 4.7% increase.

Electricity, Gas & Steam (29.0%),Oil Refining (25.7%) and Metallurgy (18.8%) stood out among the prices of raw materials used by the sector that had experienced the highest inflation rates over the last twelve months. On the other hand, the annual prices (March 2011 compared to March 2010) of raw materials decreased or posted smaller increases in the following sectors: Extraction Industries (-6.8%), Timber & Cork, except Furniture (-0.1%), Manufacturing of other Non-metal Mineral Products (1.4%) and Manufacturing Furniture and other Manufacturing Industries (1.6%).

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 Further press releases on the Construction Costs Index of the Basque Country Construction Costs Index of the Basque Country Databank