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Press Release 23/03/2016

FOREING TRADE UNIT VALUE INDICES-IVU. IV/2015

Export prices decreased by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2015

Average prices in 2015 compared with the previous year fell by 1.7% for exports and 12.5% for imports

Export prices saw another drop in the fourth quarter of 2015, falling by 0.5% compared with the previous quarter according to Eustat data. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2014, export prices fell by 2.1%.

Furthermore, import prices fell by 3.5% compared with the previous quarter, and by 15.1% compared with the fourth quarter of 2014.

Within exports, energy was responsible for the changes in total price variation, with a year-on-year downturn of 27.8%. For non-energy exports, however, there was an upward trend of 1.2%.

This performance was also seen in imports, to an even greater extent. Import prices of energy products fell 40.4% in year-on-year terms, whilst prices of non-energy products fell only by 0.5%.

Foreign Trade Unit Value Indices for the Basque Country by economic destination (%). IV/2015
Source: Eustat. Foreign trade unit value indices-IVU

The year-on-year analysis of exports according to the classification of goods by economic destination shows a 4.1% decrease in prices of Intermediate Goods and a 0.9% decrease in prices of Consumer Goods, whilst prices of Capital Goods rose by 4.8%.

In the case of imports, there was a rise in the prices of Consumer Goods (11.2%) and Capital Goods (2.1%), and a decrease of 18.1% in the prices of Intermediate Goods.

If the economic areas receiving the exports are taken into account, we can see that prices fell on a year-on-year basis in all areas, especially in exports to the Eurozone (-4.7%). In the EU-28 countries, prices fell by 3.6%, and the same was true for the Rest of the World. Nevertheless, prices remained constant in relation to the third quarter of 2015 in nearly all the areas analysed, with the exception of the Rest of the World, where prices fell by 3.6%.

Foreign Trade Unit Value Indices for the Basque Country by economical area (%). IV/2015
Source: Eustat. Foreign trade unit value indices-IVU

In the case of imports, there were year-on-year downturns in all areas, above all the Rest of the World (-25.6%). Compared to the previous quarter, prices solely remained constant in the Eurozone (0.3%).

BALANCE OF UNIT VALUE INDICES FOR 2015

In 2015, export prices fell by 1.7% compared with the previous year. In the case of imports, prices fell by 12.5%.

The origin of this price trend for 2015 can be traced to heavy decreases recorded for Energy Products both in terms of exports (-21%) and imports (-34.2%).

If we take into account the classification of goods by economic destination, we can see that export prices for Capital Goods rose slightly (0.5%), and yet export prices actually fell for Consumer Goods (-1.5%) and Intermediate Goods alike (-2.3%).

In the case of imports, there was a decrease in the prices of Intermediate Goods (-15.1%), a rise in the prices of Capital Goods (4.5%) and, most of all, of Consumer Goods (9.4%).

Foreign Trade Unit Value Indices for the Basque Country by economic destination (%). 2015
Source: Eustat. Foreign trade unit value indices-IVU