Press release 24.04.12

INDUSTRIAL PRICE INDEX OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY (IPRI) MARCH 2012

Industrial prices rose by 0.5% in March 2012 on the previous month

They were 2.6% up on the previous year (March 2012 on March 2011)

Industrial prices in the Basque Country rose by 0.5% in March 2012 compared to the previous month, according to EUSTAT data. The year-on-year rate for March, which indicates the fluctuation in industrial prices over the last twelve months, showed growth to be 2.6%.

A more detailed sectorial analysis shows that in March 2012 the most inflationary branches, compared to the previous month, were “Coke Plants & Oil Refining” (3.8%), “Extraction Industries” (1.3%) and “Manufacture of Rubber, Plastic and other Non-Metallic Mineral Products”, (0.5%), amongst others. By contrast, the sectors that experienced the greatest falls in prices were “Electricity, Gas, Steam & Air Conditioning” (-0.5%), “Manufacture of Machinery & Equipment” (-0.2%) and “Timber, Paper & Graphic Arts" (-0.2%).

During the year-on-year period, March 2012 on March 2011, the highest price rises were recorded by “Coke Plants & Oil Refining" (11.9%), “Electricity, Gas & Steam” (10.3%), and “Chemical Industry” (5.2%). On the other hand, prices fell in "Metallurgy & Metal Products" (-1.1%) and "Pharmaceutical Products" (-0.5%).

According to the classification of goods by economic destination, the evolution of prices in the large sectorial groups varied in March: the price of Energy rose by 1.9%, Intermediary Goods were up by 0.2% and the prices of Equipment Goods fell by 0.1%. There was no noticeable change in Consumer Goods overall (0.0%), with prices of Consumer Durables remaining unchanged (0.0%) and Non-Durables falling slightly (-0.1%).

The price evolution of these large groups of goods increased in all cases over the year-on-year period, with the exception of Intermediate Goods, which were down 0.2%. Prices relating to Energy rose by 11.2%, those of Equipment Goods did so by 1.3% and those for Consumer Goods were up by 1.4%. Amongst the latter, the prices of Consumer Non-Durables rose by 1.7% whilst Consumer Durables were up by 0.6%.

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 IPRI - Industrial Price Index of the Basque Country Databank on IPRI - Industrial Price Index of the Basque Country.