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Press Release 05/05/2016

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INDEX, MARCH 2016

Industrial activity in the Basque Country rose by 4.0% in March 2016

The industrial production index saw a growth of 5.1% in the first quarter of 2016

Industrial production of the Basque Country in March 2016 was up by 4.0% compared to the same month of 2015, in homogenous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data. The balance of the first three months of 2016 saw 5.1% growth.

Compared to the previous month, February 2016, the industrial production of the Basque Country rose by 0.2%, once seasonal effects had been corrected.

The trends of the index in March 2016 compared to March 2015 was positive for all the Main Industrial Sectors. Energy rose by 11.9%, Capital Goods were up by 6.0% and Intermediate Goods increased by 2.7%. Consumer Goods as a whole increased by 1.5%, due to the upturn seen, above all, in Consumer Durables, which were up 2.8%, since althoughConsumer Non-Durables also rose, they did so far more moderately (1.0%).

Seven of the eight sectors with the most weight in Basque industry saw positive trends in March 2016 in year-on-year terms. The Transport Material sector stands out the most with 17.7% growth. Other sectors with significant growth are Electricity, Gas & Steam, up 8.3%; Plastic & Rubber, with 4.1% growth; and Food, Beverages & Tobacco and Timber, Paper & Graphic Arts, both of which rose 3.6%. The Metallurgy & Metal Products sector maintained an overall positive rate of 1.6%, despite the downward trend seen in the Iron and Steel sector, with a decrease of around 19%.

Conversely, the only decrease in the industrial sectors with the most weight occurred in the Electrical Material & Equipment sector, which posted a 4.4% drop.

Table 1. Industrial production in the Basque Country. Key Sectors. Year-on-year growth rates. A-38 Sectorisation. Provisional Data
Source: Eustat. Industrial production index

By province, the year-on-year performance of the Industrial Production Index for the month of March showed an upward trend in all three: It rose by 14.8% in Álava, by 1.3% in Bizkaia and 1.2% in Gipuzkoa.

The month-on-month variation rate was positive in Álava, where it rose by 2.9%, and in Bizkaia, where it was up 0.8%, whereas in Gipuzkoa it was down by 1.8% compared to February 2016.

Table 2. Industrial Production in the Basque Country. Growth rates. Provisional data. March 2016
Source: Eustat. Industrial production index