Press Release 05/02/2015
Industrial activity in the Basque Country rose by 0.8% in December 2014
The industry balance in 2014 closed with an accumulated increase of 1.3%, after two years of contraction
Industrial production of the Basque Country in December 2014 was up by 0.8% compared to the same month of 2013, in homogenous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data.
Compared to the previous month, November 2014, the industrial production of the Basque Country rose by 0.6%, once seasonal effects had been corrected.
The evolution of the index for December 2014 compared with December 2013 revealed downturns in Energy, which decreased by 4.9%, and Intermediate Goods, which fell by 2.9%. Consumer Goods rose by 3.6%, as a consequence of the increase that occurred, above all, in Consumer Durables, which were up by 11.8%, whilst Consumer Non-Durables, which also rose, did so far more moderately (1.1%). Equipment Goods rose by 7.1%.
The month-on-month variation for December 2014, on November 2014, was negative for Intermediate Goods, which registered a downturn of 2.4%, and for Energy, which decreased by 6.5%. Equipment Goods posted a rise of 5.0% and Consumer Goods, as a whole, were up by 0.5%, due to the increase experienced by Consumer Durables, which rose by 7.2%, with Consumer Non-Durables falling by 1.7%.
Among the largest sectors in Basque industry, those that saw the most significant growth in the month of December 2014 with regards to year-on-year variations were: Transport Material, which registered a positive variation of 15.4% and Timber, Paper & Graphic Arts which rose by 3.7%. On the other hand, sectors that stood out were Energy, Electricity, Gas & Steam, which posted a year-on-year fall of 11.2% and Plastics & Rubber with a negative rate of 3.2%.
By province, year-on-year performance of the Industrial Production Index for the month of December showed positive results in Bizkaia, where it increased by 7.3%, and in Gipuzkoa, where the increase was 0.3%, whereas Álava saw a fall of 8.8%. The month-on-month evolution was positive in Gipuzkoa where it increased by 3.6%, whilst in Álava it was down by 3.4% and in Bizkaia it dropped by 0.2% with regards to November 2014.
Industrial activity balance for 2014
The 2014 balance for the Basque Country with respect to the previous year ended with a rise in the Industrial Production Index of 1.3%, following two years of downturns: 5.9% in 2012 and 3.1% in 2013.
Intermediate Goods increased by 2.2%, Equipment Goods rose by 1.6% and Energy posted a rise of 0.1%. Consumer Goods as a whole fell by 2.2%, and within that sector, Consumer Durables were down by 16.4%, whilst Consumer Non-Durables were up by 3.6%.
The accumulated variations in 2014 for the three provinces were also positive: in Bizkaia the index rose by 2.0%, in Gipuzkoa it was up by 1.1% and Álava saw an increase of 0.3%.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel: 945 01 75 62
Further press releases on Industrial Production Index of the Basque Country (IPI)
Databank on Industrial Production Index of the Basque Country (IPI)